When I spotted a celebrity

What do you do when you see a celebrity, but cannot speak to them because of the 'no talking' commuter rule?

Let me start with being honest. Before I was a daily commuter, I liked to talk to people - whether I knew them or not, I would happily be pulled into a chat. Within the first week of taking the train to work, I turned into the ultimate none talker. For example, I will often leave my headphones in, even if my podcasts have run out and I have no other way of creating sound from my phone. Having headphones in your ears is like the ultimate warning against anyone even daring to make conversation (don't believe me, just try it). I would hate for anyone to be concerned though this early in the post, so let me reassure you that I store up all lost opportunities for talking to other humans, and both my current colleagues and my partner get it all instead - I assume they are very thankful for this.

Anyway, let's get back to the point of this post. Last week, I was sitting on a stopping service to London Waterloo, when I looked to my left and saw an A-lister. Not the unrecognisables that go on Big Brother, a real life famous TV celebrity. Who you ask? Well the one and only Iwan Rheon a.k.a Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones!! He was wearing modest clothes, a casual wool jumper and jeans. Considering his wealth, he wasn't showing off while he rides the 7.47am from Woking. My heart started to race. Iwan was two seats away from me on a quiet train. If I am ever going to speak to this guy, this was the time surely. But, wait, that breaks the sacred commuter rule! What do you do?! Break rules and say hello (while trying to appear cool obviously) or maintain order and miss an opportunity of a lifetime? While I pondered this, I just shamelessly stared at his side profile.

Five minutes of staring like an obsessed fan, and a couple of times leaning a bit more to my left so that I was an inch or so closer, I decided that as a "newer" commuter, I would have time to repent for my sins. This was it, time to think of something witty. Normally, I would bank on my humour, but I hesitated for a second too long which changed everything. In that time, probably sensing the insistent staring, Iwan looked full at me. Turns out, when I looked him square in the eyes, it was clear that this man definitely wasn't Iwan Rheon... cannot believe Iwan or this stranger could let me down like that. I guess there isn't much left to say other than maybe it would have been slightly more embarrassing to have said hello. My celebrity hunt apparently continues.