The waiting room

The legislative office building in Hartford is a heck of a lot like an international airport.

My destination — Friday's hearing on a proposal to ban smoking in Connecticut's casinos was held — was shared by a couple dozen Foxwoods Resort Casino dealers clad in yellow United Auto Worker T-shirts, a handful of casino representatives and an ever-growing number of expert witnesses, at least one of whom had just jetted in from the Washington, D.C.-area. We waited in the main lobby, noshed on breakfast and then lunch in the cafeteria and wandered in and out of the hearing room, checking the agenda like one would check a departures screen.

But, like waiting at an airport, it was nearly impossible not to overhear the plans of others. Instead of talking about trips to Istanbul or Iceland, various witnesses reviewed pending testimony on such issues as election-day voter registration and who should have the right to commit someone suffering from mental illness.

I also managed to drop in, unknowingly, on a hearing discussing giving tax breaks to living organ donors to help offset the cost of them having to take time off of work to recuperate. It was a moment — although less life-changing than when a near-stranger offered her kidney to a co-worker's husband a few years ago — of what a friend and fellow writer likes to call synchronicity.

Call it fate, good fortune, a lucky break or just life (for all you sarcastic pessimists out there), but Danny Gasparino most likely won't need dialysis for another decade thanks to the spontaneous generosity of Marci Pignataro. If you missed their story in last week's Bulletin, here's where to find it:

www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1638943317

And an update:

www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1529764129