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.
Yes, a person who feels that's necessary to do, on the day the man died, is mighty bitter about something.