Rubbing Shoulders

I am in Lafayette Louisiana for the American Birding Association 2007 National Convention. Today was not a field trip day so I got to sleep in a bit (woke up at 7:30am). Instead of field trips, there were a couple of lectures that I attended. More about those later. During each lecture there is a break for coffee and snacks. During the morning break I was in line to get some more coffee. A very long line that was moving slowly. Then I realized that the hold-up was a couple of ladies struggling to get more hot water for their tea. There was really no wait for the coffee. Except the guy in front of me did not realize it, or was being polite and not assuming he could move past the tea drinkers, or whatever. I was actually leaning forward in anticipation of the guy in front of me moving directly to the coffee, but he didn't. I wanted to say "go ahead!", but I restrained myself (I have learned not to trust my instincts in the morning when caffeine is low).

I am glad I did. The guy in front of me was David Sibley. In the world of birdwatching, he is a famous dude. I own four of his books. Um...excuse me, Mr. Sibley, can I get you some coffee?

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