Who Would Have Thought

Today I was sent to the bookstore to find a novel for my "Sweetheart Face" who is recovering from back surgery. After scouring Books A Million with no luck I decided to go across town to Barnes & Noble where I had the same luck.

With a full head of steam up, I was leaving Barnes & Noble when out of the corner of my eye I happened to notice a dark haired man in a brown corduroy jacket walking towards me from the right.

Wow, I though to myself, that looks just like the guy who writes all the articles I really like in those gun magazines. Sometimes my brain is really quick, although not often. So I swooped around to check and sure enough he looked like "whats his name."

Now I am in a quandary, he really looks like him, my favorite gun writer of all time and I can't get a handle on his name. After 45 plus years of Navy, Law Enforcement and now retirement I sometimes think some one looks like someone and most often it's not them.

So I swoop around again and I see he has just put down a gun magazine and is looking at a gun book. I tell myself this information is a real clue. He looks like him and he reads about firearms. Suddenly, I remember his name.

So on the next pass I said, "Excuse me sir, but are you a writer?" And his response was "Yes I am." So I said "Is your name Massad Ayoob? And again he responded with a yes.

We chatted for only seconds because it really is not my style to interfere with a person who I really do not know. At the airport where I worked, I was acquainted with John Walsh of America's Most Wanted and he tried very hard to maintain his privacy. Although, he never got upset if someone talked to him but he mostly stayed away from the crowd.

I really have to say, I could not have been any more excited over meeting Massad Ayoob than I would have been if I met Gene Autry, Roy Rogers or John Wayne. I have admired Ayoob's writings for a very long time.

Thank you sir for a very pleasant interaction.