It was 1996, at an AMC movie theater (now ArcLight Cinemas) in University Town Center (now Westfield UTC) we saw the famed motivational speaker and his entourage. I knew Tony Robbins was a long-time resident of La Jolla, but had never seen him or knew of anyone who had, it was kind of like a myth come to life.

It was fascinating to see him at a movie theater. What the hell? Didn’t he have better things to be doing? Why was he with a group of people who were a full head shorter than him and why were his hands so damn big? What movie could he possibly be seeing? We had to know so we tailed the group.

We were stunned when he walked into the theater marked “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America – 8:30″. This legend of financial success was a fan of such low brow humor? I was spinning (also a little drunk) and pretty damn stoked as this was the same movie my group was there to see. And to top it off, we bought seats directly in front of him. We were going to hear the innermost secrets of motivation and success. I was going to regale my grandchildren with the wisdom of the .1% and live a life free of hardship.

The lights dimmed. His group fell silent. I couldn’t even catch one word from Tony; his voice being extremely distinctive, basically tattooed into my head by endless infomercials. He mumbled. I couldn’t make out what he was saying.. Damn.. He laughed.. and laughed some more. He was enjoying the movie while I was spying on someone literally taller than life. He ended up being just another person.. like most people are. I didn’t learn anything from this, but had a mediocre story to write on my blog on Christmas Eve during a pandemic.

I wish this had a more exciting ending.