So two firsts for me yesterday:

I met a NASCAR driver and a billionaire. The NASCAR driver is sponsored for the company that the billionaire owns (I work there also.) Apparently, he's new and the other guy left to go to another team. I don't watch NASCAR so I have no idea who this guy is. My brother-in-law is a fan so I got a photo and an autograph for him. The billionaire in question is a member of the family that owns this privately held $16B business. Odd thing being in the presence of someone who is on the Forbes list of richest Americans.

The driver guy was very nice and reserved as well. He seemed tired after a long day and wasn't sure how familiar to be with people. By the time I got down to the place where he was signing autographs, there weren't many people there as he'd be leaving shortly. Some people wanted to talk his ear off. I thought I'd spare him the chit-chat and get to the get as they say. He seemed relieved when I said something along the lines of "I know you've had a long day and are probably tired so I won't chew your ear off. Good luck this season."

I know people tend to fall apart when they meet celebrities but marathon events like this are probably grueling and yes, the price of being famous, but he seemed like a nice guy and I'd rather let him off the hook than try to ingratiate myself w/ him. Much of this probably has to do w/ the fact that I'm not a NASCAR fan. To be certain there are some people would certainly leave me starstruck. I just hope I'd have the sense to not drone on and on.

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