Well, I can't remember EXACTLY what it was, but I had spent part of the day before flying from France and arrived late at night after a hectic transfer at Dulles. With jet lag, I could only rest a little bit and was starving at about 3 am or so... it was in 2007, and in front of the hotel there was kinda restaurant where I went, maybe around 6 am. It was still dark and pretty cold. I think i had to look quite haggard and hungry, because the waitress came straight to me with a cup of coffee, asking for what kind of breakfast would I like (well, this is the way most of the waitresses welcome their guests over there, but I was pleased... and even more starving than at 3 am).
Silly me... I asked for the biggest one they had. A huge one. My own words. She warned me the huge one was just that... HUGE. Compared to several guys already having their meal, I have to recognize that I nearly looked skinny. But I thought to myself,
alea jacta est! She went to the kitchen and while some other ASLers came in, Sam Belcher first, she came up with 6 pancakes full of butter, cereals, cream everywhere, half a dozen of cakes, fruit, a jar of orange juice, several types of bread, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, beans, cheese, yogurts... the list is just too long for me to remember exactly what I managed to see that very morning, not to even mention what I had to leave on the table. I think I only managed to eat one third, maybe only one fourth of all that food. She kept going to the kitchen, and returning with more food... The 6 pancakes are stuck in my mind, definitely.
And all that while talking to Sam, and later on with Alan (Salzman IIRW) and some other great ASL players I had the chance to meet that very morning for my first ASLOK. Sorry if I cannot be more detailed, but it was nearly 14 years ago and the lesson learned is that I will NEVER ask for any HUGE meal in the United States of A
This was how I had the chance to meet Sam for the first time; a very nice, cool guy and true Gentleman.
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