the music fan

She lives in a two bedroom apartment in the suburbs, not too far away from her place of work but not within walking distance of it either. The reason for her choice of location quickly becomes clear after an idle look at her CD and DVD collection. All the country's bands in alphabetical order, lined up next to the concert DVDs and the books on local sights and music. She is a music fanatic, who came here for the music and moved heaven and earth to have a job lined up. In fact the reason she has chosen that tiny apartment, distant from every conceivable hangout as it is, lives about 30 minutes down the road: her favorite singer, the one because of whom she came here so many times before, the one because of whom she decided to stay.

When she is out and about in town, she will pick places where he is said to be or have been, places that attract many of her ilk and where the minute you step through the door, the back biting and back stabbing begins. Everyone wants a shot at meeting their idol and providing that friendships are made at all, they will just as quickly disband the minute said idol walks through the door and casts his eye on one of them.

Her claim to fame among her small group of friends is such that she has seen him in concert several times (more times than many of the others) and has even once, in a desperate attempt at bravery, gone straight into his garden. Asked whether she at least said hello when she claimed to have seen him, she shakes her head and claims that all she wanted to do was see his living quarters, from the outside because of their "architectural value" they represent.

Well, mazel tov to her and many happy returns. If she survives the conditions she is living in presently and the harsh realities, she will at least have stories to tell when her grandchildren gather around her, spinning their own dreams of meeting their present-day idol.