Its nice to be nice

I once met Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano joined the fans after a game in the executive players lounge. I was lucky enough to be invited to this very select area for a meet and greet. My friends company do a lot of business in Manchester and he knew I would love the chance to experience this. He was right. It felt great to be excited for weeks leading up to it.

Contrary to the media reports, Cristiano was great with everyone. He had lots of time to chat and was happy to pose for countless photos and sign any autograph requests. At the time he was rumoured to be heading for Real Madrid, and was considered to be the best young player in Europe, if not the World.

Further to this he was on a reported 200k a week, which meant the world he lived in was very different from mine. Countless offers of a drink were turned down and he stuck to his glass of water. Due to the number of bodies the room got warm quickly and Cristiano took off his suit jacket and placed it on a chair behind him.

From where I was standing I had a great view of him from the back. I felt excited to be standing so close to this freak of football. The talent of this man had me start struck. Anyway, as he went to leave, he picked up his jacket and unknown to him his wallet and mobile phone slipped silently onto the floor. The room was noisy and nobody seemed to notice. I noticed.

I quickly pushed through without causing any reason for alarm and picked up his items. I then made my way towards him trying not to look like a nutter. As I got within earshot I shouted his name and for some reason I shouted “Ronaldo”. To this day I don’t know why I didn’t say “Cristiano”, like a normal person. He heard the bark of his name and turned to me, slightly apprehensive. I moved in close and quietly told him I found his items that had fallen from his jacket. I pushed them both into his hand and said have a good night.

As I turned to walk away he shouted, “wait” and I looked back. He almost looked stunned. He walked over and shook my hand and thanked me. In the most Scottish I have ever sounded I said, “Nae bother big man, it’s nice to be nice” and walked away.

I didn’t think anything more about it until a lady approached me several minutes later and told me Cristiano would like me to have a good night on him. She worked for Manchester United PR section and the bar was free for my group, for as long as we required it. As we already had an action packed night planned I told her we were moving on. At that she said the offer still stands if you change your mind, just ask for her.

We moved onwards and upwards about 10 minutes later. A night of merrymaking ensued of the highest quality and in the morning I felt lucky to have had a moment with my idol.

A few weeks later my friend who arranged the trip phoned to say Manchester United had contacted him, again. It was from a person who wanted to know my name and address. As most Scottish people do, my first thought was “what had I done wrong?” In my minds eye pictures came flooding back to me, but none that would get me into any trouble. So I hoped anyway. My friend then explained it was a personal request from Cristiano’s PA.

My friend told me he didn’t want to give any information without speaking to me first. I wondered what it was all about and took the name and number they gave him. I didn’t sleep most of that night as I wondered what it could be about. I had simply returned a persons wallet and phone, as I would do for anyone.

I called the number the following day and the person was very glad I had called. She told me Cristiano wanted to thank me again for my actions and that he would arrange a VIP day at Manchester United for me. Further to that, he would give me his signed match shirt for the game. As much as this appealed to me I had already been away from my family enough due to stag weekends and music festivals.

I told her his thanks were enough for me and to tell him the opportunity to help made the day very special for me. That was the end of it. Or so I thought.

My wife text to say a parcel had arrived for me. She didn’t know what it was but it was really heavy. I wondered what drunken purchase I had made on amazon but nothing came to mind. I checked my order history and nothing was expected.  I drove home a bit quicker that night, as I couldn’t remember the last time I had a mystery gift since I was a boy.

I burst in the front door and headed right for my parcel. Claire asked, “What do you think it is?” As I looked for an entry point in this expertly boxed gift I found the right section and carefully opened it up. In front of me was a framed no 7 Manchester United match shirt, worn and signed by Cristiano himself. I was no expert but the frame weighed a tonne, I guessed it to be a very expensive. I knew it was a once in a lifetime moment as these things were worth a fortune if sold at auction. It came with certificate of authenticity and a hand written letter.

The letter read as follows:

Hey Grant,

thanks for being a good guy. I hope you can find a space in your home to put this up. You were right. It is nice to be nice. Respect.

“Ronaldo” lol

A sense of pride swept over me as I realised good people like me are very rare in Cristiano’s world. Almost as rare as people like Cristiano in mine. Be true to yourself my friends. You never know where it will get you.

Grant Wright 14/01/2016