Shannon and I are in Rotorua, New Zealand, for the New Zealand Cornea and Contact Society Conference. It is a beautiful place and our Kiwi colleagues are amazingly warm and welcoming. It is impossible to not fall in love with New Zealand.

On our flight to Auckland, I spotted Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema looking elegant in her jammies, while trying to remain incognito. Turns out she was on the way to compete in the New Zealand Ironman. Considering how little is getting done in Washington, DC, these days, “exercise diplomacy” is probably a wise use of the senator's time.

Sinema is not the first celebrity I've had an encounter with during more than 4 million miles in the air. Although I usually respect their privacy as I did with the senator, some celebrity close encounters have turned into really pleasant moments. Some, not so much.

On a flight from New York to St. Louis, Yakov Smirnoff, Russian Cold War comic, and I spent an enjoyable two hours lost in deep conversation. On a flight from Atlanta to Omaha, Orlando Jones and I traded jokes and kept the entire first-class cabin in stitches. He drank Coke, not 7-Up, by the way. During a lengthy storm delay heading home to New York, I had an insightful chat with OJ DNA attorney Barry Scheck. All of these encounters were memorable.

In the not-so-enjoyable category, on a flight to Seoul, Sheryl Crow only spoke to her nanny, barely noticing anyone else was on the same flight. Michael Ironside of the Next Karate Kid fame, if there is such a thing, strutted around the cabin of an Atlanta to San Diego flight trying to get recognized without success. I felt bad for the guy, but didn’t want to risk getting karate chopped.

In the too-close-for-comfort category, the piece missing from Evander Holyfield’s ear was larger than I imagined, as the giant of a man sat next to me, paging through what appeared to be a family album. It took an incredibly brave flight attendant to make him move to his assigned bulkhead seat. Although I was tempted, I didn't say a word. I didn’t want to risk chewing his ear off (sorry, I couldn’t resist). When I delayed the last flight from Dallas to Phoenix due to a late connection, a visibly pissed-off Shaq glared at me as I breathlessly settled into the seat right in front of him. I felt him glaring the entire flight.

Finally, heading my wished-I-had-but-didn’t encounters was the time I stood next to J.K. Simmons when our early morning flight from LaGuardia to Chicago was cancelled. Back then, I was a regular at the LGA Delta Crown Room, and they always took care of me—rebooking delayed and cancelled flights. At the time, Simmons played the very scary Vern Schillinger, a white supremist on the very scary show, Oz. As I turned to head to the club, I thought about inviting him to join me and decided that he actually scared me, brave guy that I am. Today, a fan of his work in numerous movies, television series and most notably his “we’ve seen a thing or two” State Farm commercials, I wish I had invited him.

As I write this, I realize that I have at least another half a dozen celebrity encounters that I can think of, and even more poignantly, that I fly way too much. See you next week…

Arthur B. Epstein, OD, FAAO Chief Medical Editor artepstein@optometricphysician.com