I met Jon Foreman last weekend.

No big deal.

I really haven’t met many famous people. (Jon Foreman may not even be considered famous in your inner circles.)

I have been famous though.

I was on TV one time. It was so cool. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was 13 years old once. This was about six years ago. I was in eighth grade, and I was weird.

88.1 WAY-FM was a radio station in my hometown of Tallahassee, Florida. The station was to be in the annual spring parade the city put on and they needed one extra person to participate in the parade with them.

You might already be figuring out where I’m going with this.

I got to be in the parade, handing out candy.

A couple of girls my age yelled out, “Hey, you’re cute! Can we have some candy?”

I didn’t give them the candy. The bag had one piece left, and it had my name on it.

I like to think I taught them that flattery doesn’t always work. But in my heart of hearts I know I was just a jerk to them. I should’ve at least gotten their numbers.

That’s not how I was famous though.

A local news station was filming the parade. As I walked through the streets of the Florida capital, I was coming closer and closer to my brush with potential fame and fortune.

The video cameraman was walking along the sidewalk, filming the passing floats. One important note that should be made: he was in my direct path.

I had a decision to make. Do I walk behind him, potentially tripping on the wires that trailed him, or walk directly in front of the camera and be popular?

The choice was obvious. I slightly changed my direction so as to go between the videographer and the station’s van. And then my big moment came. I smiled as big as my face would allow, opened my eyes and mouth really wide, and passed in front of the camera.

Then I looked at the cameraman. He gave me a thumbs up. I’ve never felt so cool since.

It’s not that I’ve never been in the spotlight since then. A few months later I was featured on the front page of the Tallahassee newspaper, and of course now I’ve reached celebrity status as managing editor here. But nothing can really compare to seeing my nostrils, my tongue, and every single one of teeth (complete with braces) on local television for one full second.