This evening I had the opportunity to meet a number of important people at a cocktail reception being held at McCaw Hall in the Seattle Center. My first opportunity was to meet Warren Buffett. I introduced myself to him and immediately recognized him to be an awesome person. This man is not only amazingly humble but also hilarious and a bit naughty. I enjoyed our short conversation over drinks.
My second opportunity was to meet Bill Gates. Unfortunately, I thought it would be rude to interrupt my conversation with Warren to introduce myself to Bill, so I missed my chance. He was standing next to me the whole time I was talking to Warren, though, which was cool.
I did, however, introduce myself to Melinda Gates, which did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. For those of you who know my Ted Kennedy story, this went slightly worse than that. I introduced myself and then proceeded to brag that my tickets to Elton John were better than her tickets. Why I thought this would be humorous for her to hear is beyond me, though it is funny for normal people that I happen to tell anecdotally. We then bonded on our mutual respect for YouthBuild USA schools and I believe I left no worse than I began, but I'll still spend more time than necessary reflecting on how poorly I handle myself in pivotal situations. Sadly, this is not a new revelation.
When I think of my interactions with people of this caliber I'm reminded of Bridget Jones introducing Mr. Fitzherbert at the launch party for "Kafka's Motorbike". Hilarious for everyone else, but terrible for her. I'll probably laugh about this tomorrow with coworkers, or at least hide my embarrassment behind my sarcasm and self-deprecating remarks.
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