My Random Encounter with Congressional Nominee Ami Bera

It had been awhile since I had stopped by Fair Oaks Coffee House & Deli to work on stories when I saw a familiar face. It would be the first of two encounters I'd have with California Congressional District 7 nominee Ami Bera.

"Mr. Bera," I shouted.

"You don't know me, but don't worry, I'm a reporter."

Sure enough, it was Ami Bera and he was walking into the deli.

We talked for a few minutes — nothing really Earth-shattering, but he seemed happy to meet me. I introduced myself, told him I and my other Patch colleagues had been following his hotly contested campaign race against Republican Dan Lungren. He told me he was grabbing a sandwich before heading out to Carmichael to give blood at the Elks Lodge.

According to Bera, his communications director, Allison Teixeira and blood drive officials, this week's donations would go toward helping those caught up in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Bera grabbed his sandwich, left and I wasn't sure if I'd see him again that day. It turned out I would. The thought did cross my mind, however, whether eating a sandwich before giving blood was OK or not. It's been awhile since I've given blood, but I figured since he is a doctor, he probably knew what he was doing.

I left the deli and made my way out to the Elks Lodge where Teixeira told me Bera was getting all set up for his donation. I ran inside, snapped a picture of Bera as he was getting ready and exited quickly so as not to disturb the others making donations.

Teixeira mentioned that Bera would be using the Elks Lodge as the base for the election party on Tuesday, Nov. 6. She gave me an invitation to stop by as I make my stops at a number of local election parties happening that night. I thanked her for the invitation and told her I'd probably see her then.

Stay Patched in! Follow Fair Oaks-Carmichael Patch on Twitter | Like Fair Oaks-Carmichael Patchon Facebook | Sign up for the daily email with links to the latest news.