As a quite small boy I remember wanting to go and meet a Chelsea footballer at a fireworks evening. My dad replied, in his Cork accent, “never meet your heroes son” and one very disappointed boy walked off with his dad.
Later in life I got to understand what my dad meant. At a meet and greet after a match at Selhurst Park in the early 2000s I got to meet two Crystal Palace forwards who had just played up front together. It was obvious that the two of them didn’t have much personal rapport and weren’t that friendly to each other, but they worked on the football field.
Over the years I have seen various famous people, I worked in Covent Garden for 15 years and used to see quite a few well known faces around, but I generally don’t go up and say hello. The only real exception is authors, especially when they are at a book signing event and selling their product.
Back in 2019 I went vegan for Lent and I have stuck with it ever since. I wrote about watching documetaries and changes I have made. What also changed is that I started buying books and watching YouTube videos for vegan lifestyle and recipe tips. There were two pairs of people that I started to watch and refer to more and more – Bosh and The Happy Pear. Over the past few years I have met them all.
I met Bosh in Shoreditch in April 2019 at a book signing. My gorgeous wife and me talked to Henry and Ian (collectively known as Bosh) and they were great. They were lively, excited, entertaining, normal and willing to share. They even gave us tips where to buy vegan products nearby. My gorgeous wife mentioned that I had become vegan for Lent and they told me to keep going for longer than Lent and it was worth it. We took our book and said goodbye.
A few months later my gorgeous wife told me that there was to be a vegan cooking demonstration in the primary part of my daughter’s school – Trinity Lewisham. It was of course Bosh! My gorgeous wife was asked to help and she met Henry and I an again after the cooking demonstration. Amazingly they remembered her and me and they asked if I was still vegan. My gorgeous wife told them that I had remained vegan and they were very pleased.
This year we went to Vegan Life Live at Alexandra Palace which was very enjoyable. One of the sessions was with The Happy Pear. I have seen their videos and listened to them on podcasts and they came bouncing out and were the same Steve and Dave that I has seen and heard, they even did their signature handstands. After the Q&A session we got a few minutes for the meet and greet and we chatted briefly to them. They were lovely and I got a chance to tell them how they had inspired me to stay vegan and they seemed surprised and a little humbled to hear that. We got our photos with them and said goodbye.
Going back to my dad’s advice – maybe I would adjust it to meet your vegan heroes as they are lovely people.
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