I had to stop to reflect on something this week.
In 1997, I was working at Blockbuster Music at the Brandon Town Center. This particular day, I noticed a customer come in on crutches. I've had to do the crutches thing before and I know it's no fun. So, I go to greet that customer and see if he needed any help. I remembered that he was looking for some CD's to add to his collection. It took me a minute to noticed that I was helping out a celebrity. Then I asked :
"Are you Dwayne Schintzius?"
"Yes I am", he responded back.
I was so excited. I followed Dwayne Schintzius even since his time at The University of Florida. Granted, some of those times made me cry as a Florida State fan. Regardless, when I thought of the top centers in the state(since I started watching basketball), his name was high on that list.
I asked him a bunch of questions while I helped him pick out some music. It ranged from his playing time to his role in the movie "Eddie" with Whoopi Goldberg. The conversation was less like a star and his star struck fan. It was more like two people hanging out and just talking. I think I helped him for maybe 15-20 minutes. He left an impression on me on that day. You can be famous/talented and still be down to earth. It also reminded me that we all can connected to each other in some way. When I heard his name since that day, I always smiled and thought "He is a down to earth, cool guy". When I found out one of my friend was married to his brother, I said that is so awesome. So, when I found out through my friend that Dwayne had passed away(on April 15), I stopped and I cried. Even though I had one conversation with him, I knew what type of person he was. I hope that, in writing this, I can add this story among the others to remember him by.
RIP
