Day Two

With another bagel in my purse, and sensible shoes on my feet, we arrived by 9am. There was no way we weren’t getting a hold of two of those 150 tickets to meet Ru. When the barrier was lifted at 9:30am, it was like participating in the 100m sprint at the Olympic games. As I flew past everyone else, hurtling towards the back of the hall running faster than I ever have in living memory, I swear I could hear Chariots Of Fire playing in my head. I can honestly say I had no idea I could move that fast. And it was worth it when my friend and I were sixth and seventh in line and bought tickets to the 10am slot.

Unlike in Los Angeles when we camped on the floor for almost three hours to get our photograph slot, this time around the process was different and much more efficient. In LA, you were given the choice of autograph or photo with Ru, and the time slot alternated – autographs at 10am, photos at 12pm, etc. This time, there was no choice – we would get one picture, and Ru would sign one item (I guess too many people tried to bend the rules in LA and get both!) I wasn’t prepared for him to sign anything until I was asked by a staff member to spell the name I wanted him to make it out to, so I quickly suggested my denim jacket which was literally the only thing in my bag.

Just like before, the entire meeting is a blur. Honestly, meeting RuPaul is like meeting a divine being – he looks right into your eyes as you say hello, giving you his complete attention for that one moment in time. He told me my dress was cute and I think I muttered something about my jacket before dropping it on the table like the subtle human being I am. Calmly, he held out his hand and told us we would be taking the photo first. I could feel my hand shaking in his, and it didn’t matter one bit that we’d met him in April – it felt like it was happening for the first time all over again.

As he signed my jacket, my friend (the same friend who in L.A. told him he made her want to drop acid!) mentioned how she was going to need a Squatty Potty after all this excitment, and the most surreal 2 minutes of my life ensued as we laughed with RuPaul about how amazing a Squatty Potty actually is (use offercode RU!).