Something nice in All Good Things

Something truly lovely happened yesterday, totally by chance. I was supposed to be in Hong Kong but I’d asked not to go, preferring to remain in Singapore this week even though there wasn’t much work, and then yesterday I found out why.

Confession: I’m a massive Captain America fan. I’m not into that type of film at all, usually get bored, but two years ago The Winter Soldier was on every aeroplane flight I took, and often The First Avenger was there too, and I fell in love with Steve and Bucky. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve watched those two movies and I’ve even endured the other Avengers movies just for Steve. (Okay, I like Tony Stark too, and I like the other characters as well, just don’t like the superhero side of it or the plots and action in general.)

Anyway, as I was preparing for work yesterday I discovered from instagram that the actors of Steve, Bucky and Sam (Captain America, the Winter Soldier and Falcon) had just arrived in Singapore for a red carpet event in the evening. Then my job finished early so, without even thinking about it, I headed over to Marina Bay Sands where the event was due to take place.

I never, ever go to things like this. Queuing for hours surrounded by thousands of people is my idea of sheer hell, especially in the heat of Singapore, but I just had to go to see the actors of my beloved Steve and Bucky in the flesh. I had to wait for over four hours of horror, but they ended up being there for nearly an hour, walking the carpet, signing autographs and taking selfies with the fans, then talking up on the stage, and it was so, so, so worth it.

Can I just say, Sebastian Stan (Bucky) is wonderful. He is just adorable, so sweet and caring and lovely. He took over half an hour walking down the carpet (in comparison, Chris Evans (Steve) took barely five minutes) because he didn’t want to leave anyone out, and when he realised there was a section he hadn’t got to because he was on the other side, he ran right back to the beginning again. Eventually Chris had to call him from the stage and insist that Sebastian join him and Anthony Mackie (Sam), and you could see how sad Sebastian was for the fans he had to abandon.

I was sad I didn’t like Chris so much, given how much I adore Steve, but astounded by how much I liked Sebastian. No wonder he made the Winter Soldier so sympathetic. He has the sweetest, most open energy of anyone I’ve ever encountered.

Now I can’t wait for the third film. I’ll be in Wales when it opens next week, back with my old friends (and apparent enemies) in a world that seems so far away from me now. But I hope to take some of Sebastian’s gorgeous energy with me, and I’m already wondering how many times I’ll end up in the cinema. I really, really hope I like Civil War. (As long as there’s not too much action to spoil it - just give me plenty of Steve, Bucky and Tony and I’ll be happy!)

So, yeah, something nice did happen. Something totally unexpected, something I’d never have imagined.

Thank you, universe.