I'm pretty much good for one thing
And that one thing is spotting famous people in airports, and then riding on planes with them.

It's a long list of non-A-list celebrities that I can claim as people I've seen in airports: Aaron the Bachelor on my flight from L.A., Gary Busey on my parents' flight to Tulsa (I saw him get off the plane), Ed McMahon on my flight to L.A. Just to name a few of the really special ones.

And to add another name to my list, Friend A and I had the distinct pleasure of flying to Costa Rica last week with Stephan Jenkins, none other than the lead singer of Third Eye Blind.

We arrived at the airport extraordinarily early. We had several hours to kill before our flight. Was I annoyed? Frustrated? Bored? Of course not! One of my favorite pasttimes is watching people. And the main reason why is because if I look hard enough, I'll eventually find someone famous.

We sat. Friend A read a book. I stared at people walking by. Eventually, a tall guy walked by and caught my eye. He was on a cell phone. And he was pushing one of those luggage carts that people use to carry lots of luggage. Except his contained one solitary carry-on size piece of luggage.

I thought he looked familiar, but said nothing. I continued to watch.

Awhile later, he walked by again. Going the same direction. With his cart. And one piece of tiny luggage. Maybe that one piece of carry-on luggage was REALLY heavy. But it just looked odd. I determied that clearly this guy was famous, because he was fancy enough to need a cart for his carry-on.

He still talked on his cell phone. And this time, I got a better look at him. And.... I knew.

It was the guy from Third Eye Blind.

I told Friend A. Why? Only because it was interesting to me. Friend A tends to know nothing about music, and even less about pop culture as related to music. I knew she would have no idea who he was. But, I'd just spent the last hour or so staring at people. It had finally paid off. Someone was going to know about it.

Surprisingly, Friend A seemed to have heard of the band. And as a fellow admirer of famous people (as she says, "famous people are better than us") she was immediately intrigued. She told me to go talk to him. This posed a problem.

First, he was already a good ways down the terminal again. Walking even further away as we stared after him. I had no intentions of chasing him down to talk to him. And second, I had no idea what his name was. I just knew his face and who he belonged to, and a song or two. I can't very well go talk to some famous guy without knowing his name.

Friend A started calling people. She eventually tracked down her brother, who knew the guy's name. Stephan Jenkins. I confirmed this detail on my cell phone with a quick Google search on the internet. It probably cost me more than a seat at a Third Eye Blind concert would cost me, but I likes my gadgets. It was imperative to confirm this information. Thank goodness I have the fun phone.

Upon confirmation of the name, I noticed that he was back in our area. And not only in our area, he was checking on our flight. OUR FLIGHT!!!

Yes, Stephan Jenkins appeared to be going with us to Costa Rica. For Thanksgiving. And... he was alone.

We got on the plane, because the airplane people told us to. Our seats were the first row behind the first class section, so I set myself up for a prime view of our new famous friend who would surely be seated in first class. Sure enough, as the last passengers filed onto the plane, there he was. Just a few rows ahead of me.

Interesting.

We flew to Costa Rica. I did not talk to him. I did see him get up to go to the bathroom, but unlike the Bachelor plane trip, I did not go in after he came out. I remained in my seat. With my seatbelt fastened. Because the airplane people told me to.

We landed and stumbled off the plane, heading to the immigration line. I figured Stephan would be lost in the crowd and we would never see him again. But as we came around the corner to the large crowd of people waiting to get through immigration.... there he was. At the end of a line. A line in which we parked ourselves directly behind him.

So, now we were in Costa Rica in the immigration line with Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.

Oh yes. We were.

And... he turned and looked at me. I swear he did. He knew that I knew who he was. How? Because this is the one thing I'm good for. Finding famous people. We have a connection.

Friend A and I began discussing his musical repertoire. I knew Semi-Charmed Kind of Life, and proceeded to serenade Friend A. Quietly. So as not to disturb Stephan. She recognized the song and became excited that maybe this guy really was famous. Because clearly if I sing a song and point at a guy as though he is the one who really sings the song, he must be famous and I must know what I'm talking about. It's as good as scientific proof.

Then we discovered the ultimate confirmation of our famous person sighting. There, in the back pocket of Stephan's jeans for the whole world to see, was his immigration paperwork. And there at the very top of the page in large block black letters.... was his name. Printed. Clearly.

STEPHAN JENKINS.

Friend A and I both saw it. And at that time I decided that my fun phone needed to be put to use again.

I took a picture of Stephan Jenkin's butt. With my camera phone.

Oh yes. I did. He is on my phone even as I type.

Now, the picture is blurry. And you can't make out the name on the form in his pocket. But, we know what it is. We know what it says. We know what we saw.

I never quite felt like I was fan enough to talk to him. We watched as he passed through immigration with his one carry-on bag, and vanished down the escalator and into the night. We felt sure that Costa Rica was a small enough country that we would surely run into him again, repeatedly, throughout our trip.

But, we didn't.

I'm just glad I'm good for such an important thing.

Because famous people are better than us.

C.T.