The Last 1% is Always the Most Important
What kind of phone do you currently have? A Samsung or iPhone ? How often do you charge it? I know I charge my iPhone 11 on a nightly basis with it taking hours to fully charge.
Well, it wasn't like that back in 2008. Especially with my brick of a cellphone that could also be used as a walkie talkie. I'd even dropped it in a bucket of water at some point with literally no damage to it whatsoever. This thing was solid and also required little to no charging. I remember going weeks without plugging it in.
Oh, the good old days!
Back in 2008, I spent most of my days in class, at work, and, if not at the two, with my best friend Katie. We literally saw each other every day where we gossiped about the hottest teen throb, Zac Efron.
My obsession with the popular High School Musical franchise had wiped off onto Katie so we would spend hours singing the songs or talking about what we would do if we'd ever meet him or someone in the movies.
Now, when I say obsession, I really mean obsession. Never in my life had I felt so strongly about something, especially a movie. I remember it started December 31st, 2005, as we waited for midnight to hit to celebrate the new year.
My mom, her friend and daughters, and I had taken up residence in a lodge to bring in the new year with the TV playing in the background. I'd seen the commercial before but when the oldest daughter pointed it out, I came hurrying to the tv screen. "I want to see this so badly!" she exclaimed while I nodded in agreement.
There on the screen sang Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens in a 30 second Disney commercial promoting the new musical High School Musical going to air January 20th, 2006. Funny enough the part they were airing showed them in a lodge on New Year's Eve just like we were.
The next 20 days were torture but finally the day arrived, and I hunkered down to watch the latest Disney original movie. By the end of the first song, I was hooked!
From there on out, anytime Disney aired the movie I was watching it. This even meant the regular version, sing-along, and dance-a-long they would play back-to-back. I knew all the words and dances by heart. You think that is bad? Oh no, it was worse when merchandise finally rolled out. Anything I could get my hands out with the HSM logo I needed to have. This even meant saving all the newspaper clippings I could find and place into a binder to admire later. My room was themed based around the movie and contained pink sheets, barbie dolls of the characters, and Dance Dance Revolution where the only songs you could dance to where from the movie. Honestly, it was really bad and I can't believe it went that far.
So now that you have the picture of my teenage obsession, let's get to the good part.
Coming to Town
Fast forward to August 2008, where not only was the first High School Musical still popular, but it now had an equally popular sequel.
I remember Katie calling me with the news. Corbin Bleu was going to be doing a show at the Metra Stadium during the summer fair. Now don't get me wrong, Corbin Bleu was no Zac Efron, but he was in the show and Zac's best friend. We obviously needed to go.
Before online tickets were a thing, I stopped by the local mall where the information booth had all event tickets ready to sell. I handed over my cash eager to get the tickets. I was so excited as I'd never really gone to a concert before. My Aunt had heard of the concert as well and asked if I would take my younger cousins who also enjoyed the catchy songs from the movie. So, on the day of, Katie borrowed her grandma's car, and we all piled in. On the way listening to Corbin Bleu's latest album.
The Concert
Once we finally arrived, I went to eject the CD from the stereo but instead it jammed. Try as we might, we couldn't get it out until Katie took her fist bashing it against the console where the CD popped out with ease. From the looks of it the CD didn't look usable anymore, but it was okay because we were about to see him live!
With all the excitement we settled in our seats to enjoy the show. Now I don't remember much of the opening, but I do remember it wasn't long into the concert when I found myself covering my littlest cousin's eyes as the music blared. What where we watching!!!
There on stage Corbin Bleu was grinding it out to his songs. I remember looking at Katie in disbelief. Disney let him do that?! The worst part was when he pulled a young girl onto stage giving her a lap dance. This was definitely not the High School Musical I was used to, to say the least.
The Fair
Then just like that the concert was over. I had hyped it up so much and was disappointed in the overall performance. I didn't get to think about it long though as my Aunt arrived to take my cousins to the fair while Katie and I went to man a sponsored booth. Every year, our job, a local vet clinic, would sponsor the dog agility show they had tucked away in the farthest corner. The dogs had been adopted and did some fantastic tricks.
Each year, we would volunteer to man the booth for a few hours as it gained us free entry into the fair all the while hardly having to work as no one ever stopped by the booth allowing us to watch the dog show.
It was a win win!
The 1%
Well, there we were about an hour after the concert watching a dog jump through hoops for a hundredth time when my phone rang. It was my cousin. Answering it, I heard my cousin on the other end.
"Where are you!"
"I'm over at the dog agility course."
"I'm with Corbin Bleu getting autographs get over here fast!"
"What! Where are you?" At this point, the memories of the awful concert were washed away and scenes from High School Musical played in my head. Corbin Bleu had touched Zac Efron and I needed to get his signature to fuel my obsession even more.
Without missing a beat my cousin responds, "We are by the"...click.
"By the what!" I shouted pulling my phone from my ear hoping I didn't think what just happened did. There my phone showed a blank screen...it was dead. It had been holding onto the last 1% for hours and just when I needed it the most it let me down.
"NOOOOOOOO!" I let out and took off for the nearest building. I had to find them! I had to meet Corbin Bleu. Through the thick crowd of fair-goers I searched and searched in hopes his black curly hair would stand out but after 20 minutes it was no use. The fairgrounds were so large that by the time I covered half of it he would be long gone. To my sadness, I went back to the booth now manned only by Katie.
From the disappointment she knew I had missed my opportunity of meeting a celebrity crush. No matter how much cotton candy, caramel apples, or twirly rides we consumed the rest of the night it was a bust.
Aftermath
A few days later my mom and I stopped to say hello at my cousin's house. There my cousin's showed me Corbin Bleu's autograph traced across the oldest's cellphone, the middle's forearm, and the youngest's shirt. We had forgotten to take our paper notepad and instead left it in the car as we dealt with the stuck CD so they hadn't gotten me one.
I couldn't believe it. The one chance I had to meet a celebrity and get an autograph was gone all because of the 1% battery life.
To this day, I will randomly think of this story and laugh. I honestly can't think of another time when I've let my phone be below 5%, at the most, making sure I charge it every night before bed. You never know the next time you might run across your high school celebrity crush.
Final Thoughts
I'm giggling even now as I type this story thinking how dramatic I had yelled out the word Nooooooo!
If you are wondering if I still have an obsession with the movies, the answer is no. At least not as bad as it used to be. I'll watch them every now and then or sing a song or two but I've forgotten all the dance moves long ago.
Has for all my stuff, I still have it locked away in a storge unit somewhere. One day I'll take it out and sort through it but honestly it might be worth some money now that the newest Disney Plus series has come out. Who knows!
Tell me in the comments below who your celebrity crush was as a teenager and/or an obsession you might have had. I'm interested to hear! I'm going to go watch the movies while I wait....lol ;)
