The Local Boy Culture Opinion I'm blessed with a job that affords me the opportunity to see in-person the people we gawk at on TV.  Some I see randomly, others are consistent visitors.  It's nothing worth name-dropping; I don't delude myself--it's not like they came to see me--I'm just the lucky bystander who happened to cross their path.  I chat with them, show them the collections, bring them pieces, and do my best to not look awkward while I stand by and watch them browse obliviously through the store.  It's not much, but I still feel lucky.  Those moments are still a world more than most will ever get to experience. I can find out more in a handshake, the rhythm of their gait, or the tune they hum when examining a ring than the next person can staring just at a picture.  And you know they say a picture's worth a thousand words.  So real life must be like a billion. Last week my coworker paged me to the front.  When I approached the counter she grabbed my arm and leaned towards my ear.  "Can you go help Chris Brown?  He's in mens."  Her request must not have fully registered, because when I entered the room, I stopped dead in my tracks before stepping forward again.  It's Chris Brown.  He looked up from the jacket he was holding, smiled, and gave me nod.  I sidestepped his hulking bodyguard and held up a hand.  "Hi, I'm Caleb.  Let me know if I can grab anything for you."  You might have felt strange in light of his past felony, but I felt even stranger knowing Rihanna is one of our regulars.  Imagine if she happened to stumble in that same moment--it would've been paparazzi gold.  "Have you seen Nom de Guerre's new Spring line?  Just came in a couple days ago."  He shook his head.  I stabbed my finger in the air.  "It's upstairs, wanna see it?"  "Aight.  Yo Pat, I'm going upstairs."  The mountain nodded.  I started down the hall with his voice singing along with David Bowie trailing behind me. "What was he like?" my friend demanded, nearly choking on her pho at the mention of the name.  "Was he rude?  Was he a--" "Dick?  No," I finished her question, "he was nice.  He was really nice." "Hmmph."  She poked a slice of beef.  "Surprising." "He was super polite too.  I mean, I'm not saying I know him now or anything, and what he did was wrong and I think he knows that.  But I don't think he's a bad guy.  I'm not making excuses for what he did, but we all have our issues, we all hurt people in different ways.  And who am I to judge him if he takes responsibility for what he did?" Silence. "Well then I hope he learns from his mistakes." "Yeah.  Me too." Chris Brown's visit resurrected a train of thought I'd been pondering ever since Kanye became America's Most Wanted.  In the last year alone we've witnessed some pretty incredible stories of celebrities rising to unfathomable heights of fame only to plunge towards equally unfathomable depths of shame at the pinnacle of their success.  For me, there's something almost sinister about the timing.  Not that they weren't responsible for their own fates, but Chris, Kanye, Tiger--even Lil Wayne--found themselves on the wrong side of the road right when it looked like things couldn't be any better.  Chris was arguably on the path to becoming Michael's heir apparent, Kanye had "graduated" from music, Tiger was being heralded as one of the most dominant athletes ever, and Wayne was invading every track on the radio.  Wondering why you haven't heard from Weezy lately?  Tomorrow he's due to be sentenced for criminal possession of a weapon and will likely serve one-year on Rikers Island.  Their stories and two devastating earthquakes are reminders that misfortune strikes at its own convenience. On that note, I've been wrestling over the question of the public's legitimacy in passing judgement on celebrities.  Awhile ago, a friend showed me a screenshot of the automatic queries that come up on Google when entering Kanye's name. I was shocked but not surprised.  What disturbed me more was that he had posted the picture on his Facebook and many people had already "Liked" the post.  It reaffirmed a sad fact: it was now cool to hate Kanye.  The things I heard people saying about him were incredible, and some of them were coming from individuals who had never heard "Though the Wire," "Family Business" or know anything about his music--much less his life and personality.  People think they know Kanye.  The truth is they don't.  We think we know celebrities because we see them in the magazines and watch their interviews on Youtube, but all we see are snapshots.   I'm not here to argue on whether Ye is a good person or not but the more I come into contact with celebrities the more I realize how silly it is to make sweeping character judgements from what we see in the media.  Mr. West is another regular at my workplace and interestingly enough is probably one of the most considerate and gracious patrons who, I might add, is very selective with his purchases.  On the other hand, there are a handful of A-list stars I've consistently encountered who are rude, impatient, and sickeningly self-interested.  A picture can be worth a thousand words.  What we need to realize is that sometimes some of those words are wrong. Which brings us to the all important question: what will it take for these disgraced figures (maybe not including Wayne) to regain trust and favor in the public spotlight?  Do they need to remake themselves?  Does time heal all wounds?  Do they forge on regardless?  Is it even possible, or are their careers forever marred or perpetually stunted because of irreparable mistakes?  It's a brand new year and some of us are eager to see whether they'll take hold of the torch again or be forced to make way for the new generation.  My guess?  With a good dose of genuine humility and the small passing of time the world will recognize the talent that took them to the top and embrace them again.  It might take some serious soul-searching to reset the foundations and rethink the approach.  But the world's ready to forgive--if they're willing to be reborn. *** Help Chile on Google: http://www.google.com/relief/chileearthquake/ To those who've passed in Chile and Haiti, honor and peace. To those who still remain: help is on the way. To see more from Caleb Lin, visit http://evilmonito.com/author/caleb/