Brushes with greatness ...

Ross was sitting on the couch perusing the newest edition of the Winnipeg Free Press, on the front cover was a photo of the newest addition to the Winnipeg Zoo - the cheetahs.

One of the regulars approached the couch opposite him.

"Kind of cool," Ross said as he motioned at the photo of the Cheetahs.

"Yeah," replied the regular as he sat down with the daily special Iced Latte in hand "I was there."

"Really," replied Ross, sounding skeptical.

"Sure," replied the regular, smiling slightly, "the kids and I went into Winnipeg yesterday for the day and kept having brushes with fame."

"How so?"" answered Ross, his skepticism giving way to interest.

"Well," the regular began, "we went to the zoo and arrived at the Cheetah compound while reporters and tv cameras were everywhere filming the first day of the Cheetahs' on display to the public. It was a mini-circus. Then we drove into the Forks via Corydon, and I commented to the kids, "If Italy wins in today's World Cup match, this street will explode with excitement and parties." Twenty minutes later Italy won and traffic on Corydon stopped for the night ... Then at the Forks, we wandered through the open air plaza behind the Johnston's Terminal as one of the new stations was interviewing people about the warm sunny day ..."

"So, how is that a brush with fame?" asked Ross, looking confused ...

"Well, we were just a step or two off the pace of being interviewed or caught up in the excitement ..." answered the regular earnestly, "had we been there a little sooner or a little later we might have hit the evening news ..."

"How is that a brush with fame?" asked a now thoroughly confused Ross.

"How is it not?" replied the regular, claiming the paper for himself, "Can you say 'I was there when ...' about any momentous event?"

"Well, no ..." offered Ross hesitantly.

"Well, my kids and I can say we were there on the first day of the Cheetah's display at the zoo and we were almost there when the World Cup party started on Corydon ... and we almost got interviewed on tv about the warm sunny weather," said the regular not looking up from the paper, "I never said we became famous, only that we had a brush with fame ..."

Ross sat dumbfounded and stunned ... "I guess you had to be there ..." he ventured as he stood up and headed back to the counter for another coffee, shaking his head as he went ...

"I guess," agreed the regular, a broad smile on his face, which was hidden behind the newspaper ...