After a Taylor Swift super-fan was mistakenly handed a box of exclusive signed CDs, she kept them safe before handing them over to the rightful owner — because, she said, it is what Swift would have wanted.
Last week Swift surprised a number of independent record stores in the US by shipping them signed copies of her latest album Folklore, and fans were eager to get their hands on them.
One of those fans ended up getting her hands on an entire box of them outside Wisconsin record store The Exclusive Co, after the delivery was accidentally signed over to her instead of the store manager.
Me and the box of signed Taylor Swift Cds 🖤
Posted by Brandy Lee on Sunday, August 23, 2020
Brandy Baenen, 26, from Green Bay, arrived at the store with her boyfriend 15 minutes before it was due to open, in the hope of buying one of the CDs.
A delivery driver turned up shortly after and asked if they were waiting to go in to the store before getting them to sign for the package. After reading the outside of the box, Miss Baenen knew it was the Folklore CDs.
Despite the CDs being worth thousands if sold online, and although she could have easily walked away with the delivery without anyone knowing, Miss Baenen kept hold of the package and handed it over to store manager Tom Smith when The Exclusive Co opened.
She told the PA news agency: “It never occurred to me to even open the package, or walk away with it.
“Taylor Swift would not have wanted me to do anything with those CDs, other than make sure they got to where they needed to go.
“When the manager opened the store, he asked us if there was anything he could help us find, and we said yes — we want what’s in that package.
“He was so surprised and said what we did really shows the character of Taylor Swift fans. That made me really happy.”
Miss Baenen said she is “so happy” to now be famous for being a Taylor Swift fan: “All I ever wanted was for Taylor Swift to know I exist and I love her, and now she does.”
She said she had heard Swift’s management had been told of what happened, but did not expect anything to happen.
She said she has been a “huge fan” of the star since middle school and credited Swift for getting her through difficult periods in her life.