I am an Event Manager. One of my duties as an Event Manager is effectively managing large crowds. This weekend I had the pleasure of managing a crowd of 30,000 plus crazed girls, aging from 5-18 (with some parents, not many though most of the young girls were dropped off), over the course of two days, which included three shows. Many of which are fanatical followers of Justin Bieber.
Surprisingly, Justin Bieber taught me a lesson in philosophy. I witnessed a lot over those two days. But one situation stood out in my mind in particular. Let me explain.
Starting around 10AM thousands of Bieber fans started to gather in hordes outside of the arena in which he was performing. Their goal was to catch a glimpse of Bieber. How important to them was this glimpse, even if it was only for half a second? I would say that to them it was equally important as taking their next breath of air. Think I am over exaggerating? Attend one of his concerts. No sarcasm or humor meant by that comparison, its simply the sad truth.
At one point during the day, I began to assist my workers in maintaining a secure perimeter around the back entrance to the arena. This was in an effort to not only keep the building safe, but the fans safe as well. I was at a barricaded entrance, which was holding back thousands of fans. My primary duty at that post was to let no one exit outside of the barricade.
A mother and her three daughters pleaded with me to let them pass. Their hope was to gain a better view so they could see Bieber. I explained to them several times for safety reasons that I could not do that. Eventually the mother gave up trying to plead her case. She looked me in the eyes and told me, “I will never forget your face. For the rest of my life, I will never forget your face. You have ruined mine and my daughters day.”
I replied, “Thank you very much.” She answered, “I will never forget your face.” I answered again, “I appreciate that.” Her three daughters were looking at me the whole time.
After the two day concert was over, I began to reflect back and wonder why all these young girls were so crazed about Bieber. That day I could have asked one of them to name off 20 facts about him, and they would have gave me an answer in under 1 minute. On the other hand, I could have asked one of them to name 5 facts about Jesus, God, Buddha, Hinduism, Judaism, etc and I would bet money one of the most popular answers I would hear would be, “Do you know when Justin is coming out?” Again think I am over exaggerating, please attend one of his concerts.
Naturally, I began to ponder what is wrong with these kids. I thought back to story I told you above about the mother and her three daughters. And I realized I was asking the wrong question. I should have been asking, “What is wrong with these parents?”
I am going to leave you with one fact, and keep everything I said above, and especially the last question I asked in mind. Justin Bieber has over 33 million twitter followers.
James M Davis 