He must have been 50, a dirty old man who cussed up and
down like it was going out of style. It was a funny act but I
couldn't help feeling somewhat offended and out of place in
a bar full of men who fully appreciated his type of humor. I
on the other hand couldn't fully get into it. Several of the
few women who attended were laughing their asses off
and I wondered if they were just trying to fit in. I guess it
doesn't matter, but I felt sorry for them.

Aside from the lack of respect for women it was a good
night. I was in good company, and the most amazing thing
happened to me. My date and I were sitting right next to
each other facing the stage. A young man around my age
approached us with someone who seemed to be his father
and asked to sit in the two empty seats across from us.
Naturally we moved over and made room to let them sit. In the middle of his show, Rudy Ray
Moore (aka Dolemite) gave a shout out to the young man across from us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to give a nice warm shout out to Shaheem from MTV...blah, blah,
blah," were roughly his words.

I could hardly believe my ears until I asked his father, "Reid? Shaheem Reid? The writer?"

Turns out this Shaheem dude is my favorite music journalist, who's talent almost convinced
me to give up music journalism altogether. Here he was sitting right in front of me in the flesh.
Who woulda thunk, yah? Atthis point, I'm beaming and furiously shaking his hand, telling him how
much I enjoy his work. I almost went into the story about how I discovered him when I realized
there was a show going on and that he probably wasn't interested.

When the show finally ended, I couldn't help myself and reached out again to shake his hand.
"Can I take you to lunch?" I almost sounded desperate, "and possibly interview you or just ask
you a couple of questions about your work?"

Just as those words were leaving my mouth I wanted desperately to retract the request and
revise. Too late.

But I think the stars were aligned special for me last night, because he said yes. He asked his
friend (who also worked at MTV) for his business card, since he hadn't brought his that night.
Said for me to call and get his contact information. Wow!

For some reason I suspect he was using his friend as a tool to get me off his back, but it
doesn't matter. If I never see him again, I'll be satisfied. It was like meeting your favorite
celebrity, `cept y`all have probably never heard of him. For me it was tops.

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