Social woes of a camera wielder

My little camera got me into two minor social scrapes this weekend.

At the "Wicked" cast party — tremendous troupe, plump production values from this touring show at Bass Concert Hall — earnest karaoke wafted from Rusty's gay bar on East Seventh Street. So I waited by the door to document the arriving cast, crew and guests for this column.

First in front of the lens was Don Amendolia, who looked suitably wizardly after playing the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Then three pleasant but socially otherwise engaged young women posed for the column. Quick happy snaps.

After that, an energetic group of four approached the door. I separated them out. One actor wanted to check his look before I took his picture. Fine. Not in a hurry.

So far, pretty normal for your social columnist. When I asked for the spelling of their names, however, one actor countered by demanding my credentials. How could he be sure that I wouldn't misuse his image? After all, some of the cast had been stalked, he said.

I was stumped. Out of business cards, I didn't even think about the employee ID in my wallet. The doorman, laughing at my social dilemma, intervened: "Yeah, that's Michael Barnes with the newspaper."

No hard feelings.

The next night, I headed to the YMCA on Ed Bluestein Boulevard for a kick-off to Black History Month. When I arrived at the center, the place was swarming with young people playing and exercising. Normal.

But where was the kick-off? Then I spied two men in suits, who kindly directed me to the reception.

It was not until later that I realized they were dressed almost identically, as were the other men in dark suits and smart ties outside the door of the gathering. I was asked to sign in, then overheard that I would be patted down for security reasons. Not normal.

The actual situation finally dawned on me when one of the suited men took me aside and said I could not use my camera or record anything at the event. Turns out my reporting would not be welcome at this Nation of Islam meeting.

Gotta read those digital invitations more closely. Everyone was exceedingly courteous, by the way, but what's a reporter without reporting?

Again, no hard feelings.

mbarnes@statesman.com