On the Road with Hanson

When I was eleven years old, Hanson and MuchMusic were the two most important things in my life. That is, until I discovered something even more incredible: The Internet. The internet allowed me quick and convenient access to these loves of my life without buying another Bop! or BB again.

I logged in to Yahoo! chat and found a room called HaNsoN **** ZaC LuVerz. I was at one with my people. Wait a tick... did mine eyes deceive me? Was there a user named ____zac____? It had to be a coincidence...but what if it wasn't? What if my chance to talk to Zac Hanson was staring me in the face and I was passing it up like an idiot?!

My breathing became heavily impaired and I was faced with an incredible decision. Would I call my best friend and tell her that I was practically hanging out with Hanson or would I continue to chat online? I didn't have a second phone line and internet was only available via dial up at the time. It was an easy decision, I could just show off afterward.

This was one of the most thrilling experiences of my pre teen years. Another noteable was being in an official Yahoo! chat with Chris Kirkpatrick (the ugly one from 'N Sync) who answered my question (!!!). I remember being angry at myself for not having the common sense to use my full name as my username. If I had, Chris would have read it and known that I exist. I'd probably come up in a bunch of conversations with Justin, right? Alas, he'd only know me as 'yeyeyewhawha' from Toronto.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that ____zac____ wasn't Zac Hanson when he told me that he was on the tour bus chatting to me, "so technically [I] was on the road with Hanson." I am fairly certain that that kind of technology did not exist in 1997 but my Christmas gift to the 11 year old me is a promise to never ever confirm that.