Meeting Stephen King

Many of us shop at Walmart. I was at the Walmart Store in Dundalk Maryland yesterday to pick up some cleaning supplies. As I was getting ready to park my car I noticed a rather long line of people huddled together in the pouring rain outside of the building. This line of people were snaking around the corner of the building and into the mist.

I thought to myself, they must be standing in line for some new electronic gadget that I had not heard of. However when I looked at the people as I was walking up they didn't look like your average technology geek, they looked older. I know that when I was younger I stood and waited in line for my Beatles tickets, I just could not imagine why there was a line waiting to get in.

So the closer I got to the store and the line of people I asked what they were waiting for, in unison at least five people yelled out Stephen King autographs. I did a double take. Stephen King is an icon in my opinion and I had not heard of him signing books in over ten years. So I asked again to make sure that I heard correctly and yes Stephen King would be at my little out of the way Walmart later that evening to sign his new book.

So I took my umbrella, buttoned up my jacket and made my way toward the back of the line. About a half hour later I was entering the front door of Walmart to get my wrist band and my opportunity to meet and greet one of the best and well known authors of my time.

I was told that he would start to sign his new book "Under the Dome" at 6:00 p.m. and would sign for approximately two hours. I did not want to wait the entire day, so I did my shopping and went home for a few hours. Around 4:00 p.m. I started to get antsy with anticipation, so I went back to Walmart to see if they were letting anyone stand in line for the upcoming event. When I arrived there were at least fifty people in front of me. I figured this was okay I could wait an hour and a half to get my autograph, so I sat myself down with my copy of Under the Dome and started to read.

The line kept getting longer and longer, as the staff of Walmart started to move us through the ropes. Around 5:20 p.m., Stephen King stepped out from behind the black curtains, there he stood not twenty feet from me and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster. He talked to the crowd and introduced himself. He told us that he has always enjoyed writing and was honored that we were waiting for him.

He then sat down and said that since there were so many people he would start early. I was honored when I got to get in front of this humble man. He graciously signed my book, asked my name and wrote a small dedication in the front page.

This was an opportunity that I would not have missed an am grateful that I actually needed cleaning supplies that day. So I wanted to express my thanks to Walmart for setting this up, and especially to Stephen King for taking the time out of his busy life to fly to Maryland and sign in my small town of Dundalk. Thank you.....