Fun in Sam's Club
We headed out this morning and took a leisurely pace following the perfect Mapquest directions. When we arrived about an hour and half before Paula Deen was to arrive there were already about 20 people in line. I grabbed a nearby chair from a stack that were for sale and sat the Espousa down. The line rapidly began to lengthen. Given the poor review the current book is getting on Amazon, I wandered around looking to see if her previous books were also available, while the Espousa sat comfortably. Luckily, they did have a two-fer set spiral bound. I passed on the new hardcover book. The Espousa and I traded places in line a couple times to wander the store and one time for me to buy the books that we were having signed. At about 30 minutes prior to showtime, a Walmart flak was walking the line telling everyone they had to have "bought and paid for and with a visible receipt" to get books signed. The flak noticed the Espousa's non-current editions and announced Ms. Deen would not be signing those, only the new edition. What to do? We decided to get one of the new books and amiably push the other books on her and hope for the best. I went and bought a copy deciding discretion the better part of valor. Here's the Espousa on her throne awaiting the start with the line trailing behind her.
About 15 minutes prior, a guy, probably a publishing house rep was walking the line from the rear counting the bodies. I caught his eye about 10 away from me and when he got to me he said, "Two hundred." The Espousa and I readied ourselves. We opened the books. I took the cases of the sets and opened my camera. She had the books and kept her purse. I went the long way around to get on the other side of the signing table to wait. When got to the spot I thought best and somewhat out of the way, I found the Walmart folks a little in over their head. Walkie-talkies were being used by every one of the staff. They were trying to move people back, trying to tell them if you weren't in line for a signature, you needed to clear the area. No one moved. It went for naught because as the Walmart people were about to start literally pushing people back a scream went up about two aisles down. "Hey, Paula!" and the place literally erupted in applause and cheers. Any hope of the Walmart folks maintaining order immediately faded.
The crowd, not in line, pushed forward. I didn't move as my back was against a stack of boxes in the aisle. The applause continued. Ms. Deen seemed honestly overwhelmed by the outpouring and the number of people who were there. The Wallies started pushing back the crowd, mostly women in their fifties. I stayed.
Ms. Deen was accompanied by her new husband, Michael. There were yells from the crowd, "Hello, Michael. We love you." The gentleman seemed honestly amused and somewhat perplexed at the comments. Ms. Deen then attempted to yell back a thank you to the crowd. And as with almost all celebs that I have seen in person, she was shorter than I expected. Here she is. The people with their backs to the camera are Walmart staff.
She sat down with Michael at her side and the signing began. As the people trickled through, she was not a signing machine, just keeping her head down and running through the books with a scribble. Instead, she was speaking and asking questions of everyone who appeared in front of her. She stood a couple times to hug people. And "Thaank yew, Dawlin'" could be heard very clearly several times. Here she is signing for someone with a Walmart staffer keeping folks back on the left. The two guys in the rear on the left are the publisher's rep and a staffer for her marshalling the folks at the table.
As the Espousa inched closer, I moved in and beside the signing table. She later told me, the publisher rep said, noticing the stack of books for signing, "This is your lucky day. She's signing everything." With that the Espousa laid it all down on the table. They had several back and forth comments with Ms. Deen asking several questions. And yes, Michael was signing books, too.
With that it was over, for us, at least. My impression; Ms. Deen is exactly the same person you see on television. Only shorter.
About 15 minutes prior, a guy, probably a publishing house rep was walking the line from the rear counting the bodies. I caught his eye about 10 away from me and when he got to me he said, "Two hundred." The Espousa and I readied ourselves. We opened the books. I took the cases of the sets and opened my camera. She had the books and kept her purse. I went the long way around to get on the other side of the signing table to wait. When got to the spot I thought best and somewhat out of the way, I found the Walmart folks a little in over their head. Walkie-talkies were being used by every one of the staff. They were trying to move people back, trying to tell them if you weren't in line for a signature, you needed to clear the area. No one moved. It went for naught because as the Walmart people were about to start literally pushing people back a scream went up about two aisles down. "Hey, Paula!" and the place literally erupted in applause and cheers. Any hope of the Walmart folks maintaining order immediately faded.
The crowd, not in line, pushed forward. I didn't move as my back was against a stack of boxes in the aisle. The applause continued. Ms. Deen seemed honestly overwhelmed by the outpouring and the number of people who were there. The Wallies started pushing back the crowd, mostly women in their fifties. I stayed.
Ms. Deen was accompanied by her new husband, Michael. There were yells from the crowd, "Hello, Michael. We love you." The gentleman seemed honestly amused and somewhat perplexed at the comments. Ms. Deen then attempted to yell back a thank you to the crowd. And as with almost all celebs that I have seen in person, she was shorter than I expected. Here she is. The people with their backs to the camera are Walmart staff.
She sat down with Michael at her side and the signing began. As the people trickled through, she was not a signing machine, just keeping her head down and running through the books with a scribble. Instead, she was speaking and asking questions of everyone who appeared in front of her. She stood a couple times to hug people. And "Thaank yew, Dawlin'" could be heard very clearly several times. Here she is signing for someone with a Walmart staffer keeping folks back on the left. The two guys in the rear on the left are the publisher's rep and a staffer for her marshalling the folks at the table.
As the Espousa inched closer, I moved in and beside the signing table. She later told me, the publisher rep said, noticing the stack of books for signing, "This is your lucky day. She's signing everything." With that the Espousa laid it all down on the table. They had several back and forth comments with Ms. Deen asking several questions. And yes, Michael was signing books, too.
With that it was over, for us, at least. My impression; Ms. Deen is exactly the same person you see on television. Only shorter.
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