> running into them randomly on a small-town street in rural Sicily feels almost fictional
It would feel a lot less invasive and creepy if it really was random and not after looking up an event in someone’s small home town and then traveling there and hoping for an encounter.
> There was no crowd around him, no stage, no conference lanyard
The crowd, stage, lanyard — those are indications that "you can talk to me" or "here I am, this is my name, I'm speaking at this conference". Wearing a lanyard is an invitation.
> In one of his videos, Salvatore mentioned an upcoming local tradition: the Rietina di Campobello di Licata
> It was pure, absurd coincidence
It absolutely wasn't. He mentioned it, but politely declined meeting up, the author drove there anyway.
> just Salvatore on his evening walk in his hometown
I think it would have been courteous to leave him alone
Man you people are hard ones. OP had an exchange (as a local) with someone who was impactful in their life. Not to slight Antirez, but I don’t think people are ruining his walks daily to talk about in memory caching. If it was really 5 minutes and a photo (he presumably agreed to) I feel like you all are blowing this way out of proportion.
I remember the first time I ever met someone IRL from a big OSS project. I was a little star struck. Of course he didn’t remember merging my code, but I didn’t expect him to. It’s an experience I will always remember.
I love this. Sometimes magical things happen out there in the real world.
I was in Florence, Italy earlier this year and had a few minutes of waiting around when I remembered one of my best friends (who I hadn't spoken with in 15 years because life) had gone to Italy for some artistic endeavors years ago. I couldn't exactly place him, but found some tenuous links to a studio that was only a 5 minute walk from where I was standing, so I took the chance and knocked on a random door on a random street - and voila.
A friendship that started over 30 years ago in California was rekindled, like lighting a dry pine tree on fire. It's been amazing, and we're working on some cool projects together.
Get out there. Take chances. Knock on doors, say hi, introduce yourself. Who knows what could happen.
It would feel a lot less invasive and creepy if it really was random and not after looking up an event in someone’s small home town and then traveling there and hoping for an encounter.
> There was no crowd around him, no stage, no conference lanyard
The crowd, stage, lanyard — those are indications that "you can talk to me" or "here I am, this is my name, I'm speaking at this conference". Wearing a lanyard is an invitation.
> In one of his videos, Salvatore mentioned an upcoming local tradition: the Rietina di Campobello di Licata > It was pure, absurd coincidence
It absolutely wasn't. He mentioned it, but politely declined meeting up, the author drove there anyway.
> just Salvatore on his evening walk in his hometown
I think it would have been courteous to leave him alone
I remember the first time I ever met someone IRL from a big OSS project. I was a little star struck. Of course he didn’t remember merging my code, but I didn’t expect him to. It’s an experience I will always remember.
I was in Florence, Italy earlier this year and had a few minutes of waiting around when I remembered one of my best friends (who I hadn't spoken with in 15 years because life) had gone to Italy for some artistic endeavors years ago. I couldn't exactly place him, but found some tenuous links to a studio that was only a 5 minute walk from where I was standing, so I took the chance and knocked on a random door on a random street - and voila.
A friendship that started over 30 years ago in California was rekindled, like lighting a dry pine tree on fire. It's been amazing, and we're working on some cool projects together.
Get out there. Take chances. Knock on doors, say hi, introduce yourself. Who knows what could happen.
It definitely comes across as convincing his family to drive 70km to try to meet him.
And "only 70km" ?! That's 1/4 the length of Sicily!