Arnold Schwarzenegger (actor, former governor) and I have a long and fascinating history together. Back in the 80's and 90's, Arnold starred in some great movies, and I watched them. Two peas in a pod, we were!
As a big fan growing up, you can imagine my excitement (and his?) when we finally met face to face! But first, let me set the scene...
In 2007, I moved to Sacramento from Eugene, Oregon. Took a gig as a news photographer at Fox40 after a year and a half at KEZI-9. Really moving up in the world! Of course I was excited to cover anything that involved "The Governator," and eventually caught glimpses of him at various press events.
But it wasn't until a few years later when we finally met and he got to shake my hand. The event was some sort of grand opening for a business or office or something. Another photographer was there covering the event, and I needed to get the keys to his live truck.
Arnold was getting a tour of a room full of cubicles, shaking hands with various suits and dignitaries, with a hoard of cameras walking backwards in front of him. They were doing a loop around the room, so I cut through the cubicles to get ahead of the group. That way, they'd pass by, I could grab the keys from the photographer, and my mission would be complete.
Unfortunately, as the photographer passed by, he didn't hear me calling his name. The hoard of cameras passed, and suddenly Arnold was standing in front of me.
"Good morning! How are you!" he said, offering a hand to shake. Clearly he thought I was one of the well-to-do's at the event. (I know, right?)
After a brief pause, I shook his hand and offered a "Thanks for coming out today!" Nailed it.
"Thank you for having me!" he said, looking me right in the eyes. Then continued on his way.
Captured from the photographer's camera: the legendary handshake, followed by the slink-away.
I will say the man has an excellent handshake. Firm, yet not over-bearing.
After they passed, I waited by the door for the photographer to finish so I could finally get the keys. It was quite the day.
But it wasn't the last time we'd meet. Maybe a year or so later, I scored an exclusive one-on-one interview with him! At least that's what I tell people.
I was sent to a press conference for some sort of fuel cell car at the capitol, and he came out to give a quick statement. I was the only camera crew that showed up for the event, which was a little awkward, but he spent the whole time talking directly to me. Pretty sure he recognized me from our last encounter.
My exclusive one-on-one with Arnold Schwarzenegger (actor, former governor).
Then my big moment... he asked, "Any questions?" I blabbered out something stupid about loading fuel cells into a Hummer for him. It got a minor chuckle and something along the lines of "I sure hope so!" Nailed it.
Several years have passed since our last encounter, but I look forward to the next time we meet and I can say, "Hey, I'm the guy whose hand you shook years ago because you thought I was someone else, but I wasn't, but you didn't know that so you shook it anyway, and it was awesome," and then he can say, "Stay away from me please." Nailed it!