Fanatic or Just Plain Crazy???

It's 9:30 on Friday Night at Chattanooga's Riverbend, Willie Nelson is just stepping out on the stage, and I am about 200 yards from him. If we were the only 2 people there, I could use a megaphone, and I am confident he still would not hear me. He looked like he was 2 inches tall standing on Riverbend's Coca Cola Stage on the Tennessee River.

Now I am not a real fan of Willie Nelson. I was at Riverbend to support some friends in the Sheriff's department.

However, the little ole' lady right behind me was there for Willie only. When he walked out on the stage, the whooping and hollering started. "WHOOOOOOHHH, WILLLIIIIIIEEEEE" She would yell in a coarse base voice. He would start a song and she would dance and sing along. Her 5 foot, 60+ year old frame swaying off beat, as she sang as loud as she could the words of his songs. Right next to her was another woman, obviously enamoured with Willie, as she did not take her eyes of the 25' screens that his image was displayed on. I mean she was focused!! She was probably early 40's, but she looked like she was watching her best friend perform. "WHOOOOOOHHH, WILLLIIIIIIEEEEE" the old lady would yell, and the younger lady would just smile and continue watching the screen. They didn't care what anyone else said or did (except for when I stepped in front of the old lady - "Sir, Sir, could you please move, I can't see Willie.")

I had to ask myself, are these ladies crazy?? After all, he is a musician. He plays music. Sings songs. That's it! He doesn't even know that they are there - amongst the 100+ thousand people on the riverfront. As a matter of fact, it doesn't even look like he cares. He addresses the crowd twice, neither time for more that 5 seconds, and awaiting no reply, moves into his next song. He was obviously impared, but he could still sing, so he did.

In a world where we are encouraged to hold very little that imporant in our lives, it was interesting to see with what passion and focus these women held to a musician that didn't even care about them.

Let me ask you - what are you willing to be "crazy" about? While others look on and are baffled by your dedication, what are you "trying to see"? What are you a "fan" of?