Even when you are wealthy or famous at the peak of whatever fame or wealth you may have, or at the end of it, some times you just want to be left alone and have a sandwich.
Likely zero. "boulos" was probably tapping away at something on his phone or listening to headphones and didn't respond when the employee at the deli counter yelled "Next." Or maybe, it was as simple as an 80-something year-old guy not feeling comfortable leaving his 80-something year-old wife at home alone for long.
Whatever happened, boulous is still so bitter about it that he felt it necessary to post this story on the day the man died. Says a lot more about him than about John Madden.
I'm not sure how you read 'bitter' into his story.
Seems like OP just had a moment of realisation that the cultural elites have similar desires to the common folk and wanted to relay that minor connection to the man
If that's what he wanted to get across, he could have just stated that both he and John Madden were both on line to get a sandwich somewhere. That actually would have been somewhat endearing. There's absolutely no reason to bring up the part about cutting in line -- let alone making that the focus of the story -- unless he wanted to portray John Madden as some kind of jerk (which, as all of today's tributes have demonstrated, is the polar opposite of what he actually was).
Yes, a person who feels that's necessary to do, on the day the man died, is mighty bitter about something.
I have no idea if this applies to Mr Madden, but sometimes when you become wealthy, you expect people to cater to you and the little people don't matter. "Cutting" line to get to the front wouldn't even seem as a faux pas to them. They just expect to be served with priority.
Occasionally I do dumb shit that probably comes off as a jerk move, but it is unintentional ... and I am neither wealthy nor old enough to claim dementia. I try to cut people slack, and even famous people can't be Mr. Nice Guy 100% of every day, even if it seems like that should be their personality.