Great Story, and a delightful reading!

Marbury? Who would recognize him unless you are a Knicks fan or have basketball tattoos on your rear end.

I have been in the PC and in FC sitting next to people I my have facially recognized but had no clue who they actually were. We travel, we work 24 hours a day, who really has the time with lives like ours to learn all of these people that might be on Inside Edition every night.

I think you did fine with your seatmate, he most likely actually appreciated the fact that you were not drooling over sitting next to him. I almost bet that after he left the plane and thought about it that he really appreciated the fact that you were not some basketball crazed fan (2 guys next to you) chatting him up and asking him everything under the sun about basketball and autographs for their 30 grandkids. Remember we are all human and I bet the 3-5 hours on the plane chatting with you probably was a fresh breathe of air for him to remind him we are all human.

Once again a great story, thanks for posting it!