Don't you know who I am?

This morning I walked down to the Gran hotel Princesa Sofia café to try to wake up and work on a business plan for a new project I am fantasizing about with my boyfriend and would be very much excited to bring to life one day. I guess this is what happens when one is on vacation longer then couple of days. Your mind clears from daily work stress, you finally get some much needed sleep and your mind starts to function with its full creative capacity.

While sipping on my coffee and trying to focus on what I am about to write, I started people watching since I could feel a dose of nervousness and anticipation in the air. Then, I remembered that my boyfriend told me about and got tickets for today’s big euro football game: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. He also told me that Madrid team is staying in our hotel. I guess this is what all of this fuss is about.

On the table next to me there is a husband, wife and a young boy with photo signature cards of Real Madrid players. There are also a couple of older guys around me, sitting alone, dressed in sports clothes with that “I know everything about sports”attitude, glasses on top of their noses, a notepad and a pan in their hands – I think these might be old school sports journalists.

There are also a whole lot of a Muslim ladies who are waiting for their husbands to check them in the hotel dressed in gorgeous designer pieces from latest collections like Chanel, McQueen and Balmain which only a true fashionista can recognize as they are barely peeking under their long hijabs. Their husbands are wearing RL polo shirts with collars up and aviator glasses which they never take off.

Hotel staff is running around nervously and they are extra helpful and smiley today (if that can be possible since they are annoyingly super nice anyways everyday – from mine, Croatian skeptical person POV ). At the same time, in front of the hotel there are more and more people waiting in anticipation, mostly kids dressed in their football idols jerseys, couple of creepy looking fans and players entourage making a “grand” entrance one by one (friends of players who act like superstars and are very demanding, abusing hotel staff and living on the expense of their football player friends).

Tatler magazine August, 2011.

While observing all that I couldn’t help but wonder why do people idolize and spend so much time and effort trying to get close and in touch for a moment with a celebrity person be it athlete, singer, actor? They are just regular people under all of this glitz anyways. Not all of them are nice and kind, not all of them are happy.

 I understand that one would enjoy watch them play if they play well, but why do they have a need to come close to them, touch them, take photos, get their signatures or get to know them personally? Are these usually very young athletes really ready and able to be a true role models for kids? Is this culture of idolizing the character, profession and lifestyle of famous person healthy for upcoming generations? I don't really think so.