Is it the principle or the amount? Would you pay five bucks to meet them? (Assume, that unlike this case the five bucks was for a charity or good cause you approved of.)

The principle is a little dodgy because of the awkwardness, but I've done things like buy a convention ticket that included one of those musical tables evenings with actors. But I wouldn't pay more for that than I would for a good dinner in a white tablecloth resturant. Certainly not well into four figures.

If I could be promised that the rest of the meal guests would be buffistas or buffista-esque, I'd be more interested (at a reasonable cost). Just the idea of sharing a meal with rabid fangirls (with or without the celeb) makes me shiver.

But really, if I were to put out money to spend time with a celeb, I'd rather do something more interactive than share a meal (hush, get your mind out of the gutter). I'm thinking bowling, or horseback riding, or getting personal commentary on a movie. I don't know - I just know my shyness would assert itself and I'd need something simple to talk about. Maybe that only makes sense in my head.

If I could be promised that the rest of the meal guests would be buffistas or buffista-esque, I'd be more interested (at a reasonable cost). Just the idea of sharing a meal with rabid fangirls (with or without the celeb) makes me shiver.

Bingo. At the meet&greet I went to after a MCR show, I spent the waiting time offering up silent prayers to whatever PTB was listening that the screamy-teeny fangirls next to me didn't do anything inappropriate.

I think $2,500 is more than I'd pay to meet anyone unless they were going to be handing me a cooler with donor organs for a sick relative at the meet-n-greet.

Oh, no, I'm totally with you there. I mean, if it were somebody I really thought it would be fun to have dinner with, and that social skills would trump awkwardness - say Stephen Fry or Terry Pratchett - then I'd maybe go up to, eh, twenty quid. Maybe thirty. If it were for charity. If it were just a monetary exchange, then I don't think anything could ameliorate the squick, but if it were a fundraiser for a good cause, then I could see that.

So any hypothesising involving a large cash sum would also mean I was, you know, Bill Gates rich.

I spent the waiting time offering up silent prayers to whatever PTB was listening that the screamy-teeny fangirls next to me didn't do anything inappropriate.

Sadly, it's not screamy-teenies to worry about. I was at a con in London, and a middle-aged woman asked Michael Shanks of Stargate for a "cheeky hug". Poor guy, not knowing what a "cheeky hug" was, said okay. He hugged her and she grabbed his derriere. Needless to say, he was a bit startled.

I take my hat off to the other Brits in the audience; they laid into her afterwards. At a Q & A, one graciously and publicly apologized to Michael Shanks on behalf of the rest of her countrymen in attendance. He graciously accepted, while the Cheeky Hugger was too embarrassed to show her face again.

BTW, it should be noted, he does have a nice ass.

Sadly, it's not screamy-teenies to worry about. I was at a con in London, and a middle-aged woman asked Michael Shanks of Stargate for a "cheeky hug".

nods

And then we have the grownups in Twilight fandom, before whose cracktastic lack of boundaries all others flee in dread. Bloodplay: not an appropriate way of showing admiration to an actor, ladies and gentlem well, ladies.

Bloodplay: not an appropriate way of showing admiration to an actor, ladies and gentlem well, ladies.

I find myself horrified already, without even knowing what happened, but... what happened?