As a lifelong insomniac and creature of the night, there aren’t many things which can get me up before the crack of noon. When my friends decided around midnight on Monday that we should drive down to Long Beach in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to see if we could catch David Caruso on the set of CSI: Miami, saying I was less than thrilled was an understatement. While it’s true I used to be an avid NYPD Blue watcher, all I’d ever heard about David Caruso were some wild tales about his anger and inflated ego. I wasn’t sure why we should waste our precious sleep time for some guy who would most likely blow us off.
As you may or may not know, being a Celebrity Enthusiast isn’t as easy as one might think. Most of the time I feel as though I’m in some war zone armed with recon missions, secret information, and enemy lines. Getting to our target (aka the celebrity) can take patience, planning, and, usually, a bit of luck. Imagine my surprise to find the crew of CSI: Miami to be not only accommodating, but practically Southern in their hospitality to the three of us fans who’d braved the drive before the sun came out. Not only did they NOT call the cops or give us attitude, they actually told us all the call times for the crew, told us the best times to come back if we wanted, and went to get David Caruso for us. Still, I was a bit leery; his reputation had proceeded him and I wasn’t sure how it’d all turn out.
All of my misgivings disappeared, however, the minute David Caruso started walking towards us with gifts in his hand. Granted, they weren’t anything fancy – little autograph cards with his picture on it – but to start off the encounter bearing gifts was completely unprecedented.
Gift #1
One of my friends loves all things CSI and had approximately 5,497 things for David to sign. OK, that might’ve been a slight exaggeration. It was probably only 5,495. David not only signed EVERY SINGLE ITEM, but made jokes the entire time (calling my friend “The Professional”) and then happily took multiple pictures with all of us before going to rehearsal.
When he left, he said he’d be back to sign more for us, so we continued to hang out for a bit. True to his word, after his rehearsal, David came over with another gift (bracelets with his character’s name on it – Horatio) and by this time my head felt as if it might explode. I may not have been the world’s biggest David Caruso fan before, but he’s definitely moving up the list of Coolest People Ever.
Gift #2
Two days later and, while still being far more tired than I prefer to be, I must admit it was so worth it. Meeting David was amazing and I’m thrilled to have done so. Thank you, David Caruso, for surpassing my expectations and proving all those naysayers wrong. You’re aces in my book, Mr. Caruso. Two big, huge thumbs up (and a bag of chips).
Tags: csi miami, david caruso, on set
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