eight one degrees of separation. [the dalai lama.]

"oh, and by the way, i hugged the dalai lama."
"the dalai lama? as in, the current, 14th dalai lama, tenzin gyatso? you didn't, did you? the dalai lama?"
"yes. i did. three years ago."
"nooooo!"
"yes, i did."
"tell me you're joking!"
"no, i'm not."
"wow."
"you know i worked in that venue, right? he held a lecture there, two days in a row."
"wow."
"i did the sound engineering those two days, so i had to put his microphone on him."
"wow."
"and he wears that wrap, right? so i thought it would be tricky with the microphone. because usually with men, you can just chuck the microphone reception box into a pocket. but guess what? that orange wrap he wears underneath the red one has got a small pocket. and i could attach the actual microphone to the top layer of the wrap."
"wow. that's so practical!"
"the problem was though, that he did these warmup prayers."
"kinda like sun salutations?"
"yes. he did them at the beginning of each lecture, which tangled the microphone, so i had to go on stage several times a day to re-adjust his microphone. with 3000 people silently watching."
"wow. so you got to touch him? like several times a day?"
"yes."
"wow. [pause.] you touched one of the most important people in the world. [pause.] wow."
"and after the last lecture, after i took his mircophone off for the final time, he hugged me. he didn't say anything, but he hugged me."
"wow. [pause.] would you mind if i hug you again?"