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We got a phonecall on Thursday afternoon from a personal assistant who said they had a client who wanted to treat his kids to a closed bookshop visit and wondered if we could allow him to have a private session. They were perfectly adamant that they wouldn't reveal the client's identity, so we took it on trust and just said "sure, just let us know when you want to show up, we'll see you there". But you can be sure there was a lot of speculation!
The personal assistant came to do a reconnaissance trip to see what was the quietest way to go, to check if there was any risk of being mobbed. She just wanted to ensure the privacy and she seemed pretty happy with that.
The client was supposed to come in that night, but then they cancelled because it didn't suit them. So it was changed to the Saturday night. They were very insistant that there should be a minimum of staff. So it was basically myself and my assistant manager, Janice, in the shop, just the two of us.
Host: This bookshop has a beautiful children's section, which was important, because this famous client was bringing his children. There's a goldfish tank and it's a shop that welcomes children, which is good. Who did you think it could be?
The day before the visit, some of us thought is was Bono, then Tiger Woods, Michael Flatley, Willy O'D (sp?), then someone suggested Michael Jackson, who had been in the papers, said to have visited Ireland recently.
The people carrier pulled up at 8.30, at their request the lights outside the shop were dim. We first saw a young guy who was an assistant or something, then excited kids bolted out the car. We were wondering who the dad was, but then as he emerged, we noticed the black fedora and the shades and the scarf, and that could only be one person... It was Michael Jackson! He was just out to do some casual shopping, as he does.
It was kind of surreal, I'll tell you that much! We got him in through the back door. Then he went to the expansive second floor and we just left him to cruise the bookshop. We didn't greet him, as his PA and assistant raced him up the stairs, although there was nothing to fear, it was just me and Janice in the shop... Anyway he got on his business, there was minimal communication, apart from the kids who were lovely! If you let kids loose in a bookshop, they're gonna go crazy! So they were having a blast, looking around asking "Have you got this?" and "Dad, check out this, look at this fairy book! Dad, Dad look at this!!" So they were great, they were lovely kids!
Were the kids covered?
Noooo, I guess when you're as famous as MJ you might want to protect your children in some way, but they were completely normally dressed in pretty classy looking sportswear. They were checking out the fish and all the books. I guess they accounted for at least 40% of the purchase! They just scooped up the books they wanted, stuck them in piles, left them for the assistant. Janice and I wrapped them up, charged them, and I guess they were about two hours in the shop.
What was the interaction between Jackson and the kids like?
Oh good! They left him to it. He was cruising the entertainment section with lots of music and movie books. But they kept rushing over to him saying "Dad, look at this book, look what we've got!". And he was just saying "Oh, great!". It was rather flattering because they seemed to find plenty in the children's section to interest them.
What did they buy?
Well, the little girl was mad into those fairies books. One slightly strange thing was that the boy was asking for Beano books. He bought books from The Beano, some magazines and stuff like that.
What about the Dad, what was he browsing through?
It was rather refreshing to discover that, despite all the bull printed about him, he's quite a big book man. He bought loads of film and music reference books, history, big coffee table books, that sort of stuff. The only title I'll mention despite client privilege, is a copy of The Beatles lyrics. One was tempted to say "Hey Mike, don't you own these?" (laughs).
What struck you about him physically for instance?
Well, he's fairly small and slim, just wearing sports clothes. He wears this habitual gear, with the black fedora, the shades and the scarf. But he took the scarf off when he was in the shop. I exchanged about five words with him. It was clear that he didn't want any communication while he was doing the shopping. The thing we have here is to get people to sign the visitor's book or get an autograph or something. But all we did is we gave him a nice big picture book about Ireland, an expensive book that Janice and I signed. I gave it to the PA to give to Michael, and she said "Oh, you must give it to him yourself!". And that was the only time that we actually communicated. So I went and gave him the book and he was effusively gracious, very, very nice. He just said "Oh my God, that's so lovely, thanks! You're so good, you're so sweet, thank you!" He had the scarf down at that point. So I guess he did look a little pale, but not weird like people would say. He just looks pretty healthy, as you would expect Michael Jackson would. I didn't ask him to moonwalk or anything like that!
The fact that his children are book readers is good to hear. I was quite heartened to hear that they were pooring over the books.
Yeah! It was just like a Dad taking his kids out on a special trip. I mean imagine if you couldn't take your kids to a bookshop without being mobbed! So it was a real treat for them. They were the perfect customers. They knew what they wanted, they didn't ask too many questions, there were no complaints. They were perfect!
It was a good week for celebrities, we had Robin Gibb twice this week and Brian Kerr too! |
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我不会再难过
发表于 2006-9-8 20:00:09
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发表于 2006-9-8 20:25:46
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