# I saw the Dalai Lama yesterday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398 "2013-09-09T08:15:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/1 "2013-09-09T08:15:32Z")
Sitting in front of McDonald’s on Freedom Square in Riga. I walked past him thinking, “Oh, wow, a Buddhist monk!” Wasn’t until later I found out he’s visiting Latvia and is scheduled to give a public address this afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/2 "2013-09-09T10:01:15Z")
That is pretty cool. Were there a lot of people trying to see him, or was he being left to himself pretty much? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/3 "2013-09-09T11:45:44Z")
No, he was chatting with his handler while people generally walked by without paying much attention. Hell, I wasn’t all that quick to recognize him myself; I’ve seen Hare Krishnas parading in Riga, so I didn’t think a whole lot about it until I heard he was in town. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/4 "2013-09-09T11:54:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I saw the Dalai Lama yesterday > Sitting in front of McDonald’s on Freedom Square in Riga. He was lookin’ for the place called Lee Ho Fooks Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/5 "2013-09-09T12:36:46Z")
How do you go from being a living symbol of Buddhism and spiritual leader of Tibet to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds? At least the Happy Meals don’t include “3 jewel” toys. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/6 "2013-09-09T12:50:02Z")
Gunga Galunga. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/7 "2013-09-09T21:01:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > He was lookin’ for the place called Lee Ho Fooks > Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein It’s times like this that I wish I could lay down that hackneyed “You owe me a new keyboard/monitor/winnebago” line, but it always reeks of bullshit. Still, work of this caliber should never go unrecognized. Claim your prize, sir, anything from the top shelf. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/8 "2013-09-10T04:48:27Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > How do you go from being a living symbol of Buddhism and spiritual leader of Tibet to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds? > **[Dalai Lama arrives in Riga](https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/33363/)** > > RIGA - His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and exiled spiritual lead ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/9 "2013-09-10T05:24:37Z")
I know the place well. Blows me away to picture what you are describing. Imagining running into him at Paddy Whelan’s or on a trolleybus or something. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/10 "2013-09-10T07:47:19Z")
I saw him there too. Asked me for some change so he could get his child some milk. I didn’t believe him, but I gave his a few bucks anyway. . ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/11 "2013-09-10T11:53:33Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > How do you go from being a living symbol of Buddhism and spiritual leader of Tibet to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds? > > At least the Happy Meals don’t include “3 jewel” toys. ☹ How do you go from sitting near a McDonalds to speaking at the Grand Openings of McDonalds? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/12 "2013-09-10T13:37:31Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I saw him there too. Asked me for some change so he could get his child some milk. I didn’t believe him, but I gave his a few bucks anyway. . Did he promise you instant enlightenment right before you die? He tells everyone that. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/13 "2013-09-10T13:38:57Z")
Oh, also he walked to the counter and told them “Make me one with everything.” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/14 "2013-09-10T18:20:39Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Oh, also he walked to the counter and told them “Make me one with everything.” So the guy at the counter made him one with everything and gave it to him. The Dalai Lama gave him a twenty and the guy at the counter put it in the til and closed it. “What about my change?”, the Dalai Lama said. “Change must come from within”, said the guy at the counter. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/15 "2013-09-10T18:34:25Z")
I woulda said, “Hello, Dalai”. Cause I’m sure he’s never heard that one. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-the-dalai-lama-yesterday/668398/16 "2013-09-10T21:30:06Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Did he promise you instant enlightenment right before you die? > > He tells everyone that. So you’ve got that going for you, which is nice.