Ruby Tuesday, College Park, GA Ground Zero for That Guy Fan Club
The tweet by me inviting fans of "Deon" and "That Guy" to have a drink with me was so random. I didn't really think anyone would show up. Even as Bridgett Burton aka @poeticsoul_29, a fan of the show and twitter follower, met my dad and me as we stood at the restaurant entrance, I was not sure if we should take the two open seats at the bar, or maybe…wait to see if anyone was going to show up. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to take advantage of the happy hour prices that were only available at the bar, Bridgette and I took the two open bar seats. I ordered some food and drink. Bridgette and I were engaged when my dad reminded me that I had a phone interview at 8:30PM. I excused myself to go do the interview, telling Bridgett that I would be right back. I didn’t come right back. My dad kept coming outside to check on me in the car only to see me fully engaged in a lively phone conversation. At one point while he waited outside, a young woman walked up to him and started a conversation. I had no idea what they were saying to each other but I could tell that they both thought it was funny. (I would later find out that the woman had recognized my dad and greeted him as "Uncle Regge" from ”That Coldest BBQ” episode. She wanted to know if he was my real uncle. I could see why it was so funny to the both of them. She revealed that she had watched the entire That Guy series in the last couple of days.) Dad turned and pointed to me sitting in the car on the phone and the woman smiled broadly at me and waved. They continued to talk a bit and he escorted her inside. By the time I emerged from the car doing the interview with Sonya Jenkins of Sonya's Spotlight, the bar area where Bridgette and I had been sitting, was now filling up with fans of the show. A fan and my dad had been swapping-out, holding my seat at the bar. I could see people around the other side of the bar and seating area looking toward the area we were sitting as we walked in. It didn't take long for us to realize that we were clogging up the entire side of the bar area and the aisle. My dad convinced one of the managers to open up the side room for us and before long we had a full blown Q & A session going on in our private room. Here I was, surrounded by all these beautiful women. Well, excluding my dad and Odell of Beatz and Lyrics radio. They were the token males. My even dad snapped some pictures with his camera phone after we were seated in our private room area. I’m pretty sure his camera phone wasn’t working. I haven’t seen any pics yet.
What I found out that night was profound. There is a group of ladies in Atlanta that are ready to assist me in spreading the word about “That Guy”. Is this the makings of the official “That Guy” fan club? I found myself answering basically every question they threw at me. I certainly shared more information with this group about the inner workings of the series and my own feelings and the “whys” of what I do within the series than I had ever done before. We took pictures and had drinks and talked. It was beautiful.
The Ruby Tuesday experience was a humbling one for me. I want to thank everyone who came out, including my cousin who showed up as well.
So, Ruby Tuesday in College Park, GA has become ground zero for the official “That Guy” fan club. The charter members include everyone who came to hang out with us that night and everyone who signed that piece of paper being passed around at the restaurant. We’ll start with you but we won’t end with you.
You guys asked an awful lot of questions at the restaurant. Either that or I had a couple of drinks and couldn’t stop talking. So like all good fan clubs we’ll start with trivia. Trivia that you only would know if you were there that night…and maybe hung around a bit.
Since I’m writing this blog post now, I’ll just make up some trivia questions. Let’s do about 10 or so.
1. What question or answer do you remember being asked at Ruby Tuesday’s?
2. What did you find out at Ruby Tuesday’s about Jeanine or That Guy that you didn’t know before?
3. What question did you ask Jeanine?
4. What was the most surprising thing you heard Jeanine say at the meeting?
5. What surprised you most about meeting Jeanine?
6. What state were two of the Ruby Tuesday fan attendees on their way to? (Remember, they are now official members, like you.)
7. What didn’t you get a chance to ask Jeanine at Ruby Tuesdays?
8. What was different about the way Jeanine was sitting while she answered your questions?
9. Was Jeanine taller or shorter than you expected?
10. Who did Jeanine apologize to for being a jerk earlier?
11. What does the caption say on the picture you took with Jeanine (you can make up one or create a meme) and send a copy for us to post.
Everyone that participates will get a chance to win a
*$25 gift certificate at Ruby Tuesdays
* Free viewing of That Guy Movie
Send you answers to thingsjeaninetoldus@jeaninedaniels.com and we’ll get this club started.
Before I forget, I want to do a special shout out to Bridgette @poeticsoul_29. She actually paid for the food and drink I had ordered. Next one’s on me, pinky swear.
To everyone else, Thanks for a great time. Atlanta certainly felt like home.
1st rollcall for That Guy fanclub (in the order that you signed the official fanclub roll:
Regina Williams, Kishawanna Terry, Adrienne R. Scott (@voluxebody), Bridgette Burton @poeticsoul_29), Rasheda Stone, Thea Blake (lemondrop877), Tishana Hardy, Sierra S. Blackstone, Kimberly Ponder (@kapesq)