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You stand firm and start to sing for a tribute: "Like a bird in a wire, like a drunk..."

I can see myself doing this on one of my bad nights.

Shane ~ What an image .

... would stand there staring, looking like a gaby with my mouth open, and too heart-thumpingly unsure of myself to say a single word. As for singing.....!!

My response to this poll is an “it depends” one, given that Toowoomba is a small city and is so far off the beaten track, that Leonard is never likely to visit it by chance!

So, I would handle the situation as follows:

a) If it was around Sept 21st, and the particular date when we have our annual birthday celebration event (which in recent years he has routinely been invited to, through his management’s contact email), I would go up to him and say, “Mr Cohen, fantastic! You’ve made it – how wonderful to surprise us like this!” The conversation would then be centred on making him feel welcome, comfortable and relaxed about his visit, with reassurances that he would not be overwhelmed at our relatively small gathering in this out of the way place (where few would even recognise him).

a) If it was any other time of the year, I think I would have to assume it was a double of Leonard’s and so I would say, “Excuse me sir and forgive me for being so bold, but you are the spitting image of Leonard Cohen!” I would be fairly confident in saying this, though I would be secretly hoping for the following Canadian accented reply, accompanied by a wry smile: “Yes sir and I do believe that cannot but be the case!” I trust the conversation would just naturally take off from there!

Cheers
Andrew (Darby)

Gosh Andrew, you are a true Gentleman

I once saw a dumpy dishevelled black woman on the streets of Manhattan that kind of looked like Whoopi Goldberg, the Hollywood actress. I said to her, "You look like Whoopi Goldberg." "People tell me that," she replied.
After she left someone told me, "That was Whoopi Goldberg."

Well that happened to me exactely as you describe in your question. I already described the scene in an old thread.
Patyou

What I hear is that Montrealers get to see him all the time and they say Hi Leonard!!

If he's sitting down I would go and say, Leonard, listen, if you made a vow of poverty at Mt. Baldy, that is what happened to your retirement fund. But your kids didn't make that vow. So what you have to do is put your earnings all in their name and have them write you checks. Then I will tell him I have got a drawer full of poems if he needs any for his new albums.

Sylvia

I would slowly walk up to his table in my black leather jacket, with the nonchalance of a cheetah, (you know, like I do) and when he looked at me I would hold direct eye contact and matter of factly and ambiguously say, "Leonard, I know." After that I would slowly and gracefully turn and walk away with the tune of "I told you when I came I was a Stranger" reverberating in my mind.
I would then go home and write a poem about the experience, burn it and send the ashes flying off of the mountain, abducted and blessed by the wind, after I had "prayed the whole cold night before under the travelling cordless moon," of course.

I figured that it would probably be the same for everyone:) But that's just me.

" . . . and matter of factly and ambiguously say, "Leonard, I know."

Good idea on the disbursement of funds, too, Sylvia. Those vows can sneak up and get you just about when you've forgotten them.

funny I should stumble across this thread.
One sunny day, here in Montreal, I was riding the bus and as it stoppped at the red light, I looked out the window and saw that in the adjacent car there was this man who looked incredibly like Leonard. I thought to myself "fuck what if it's him, and this is my only chance to talk to him ?!". but what could I've done ? jump out of the bus and in front of the man's car? Afterall it might have not even been him.
Life is weird like that.

Dead Man wrote:Afterall it might have not even been him

I'd sing to the guy just in case!

I guess he'd say he gets it every time...

I once, many years ago, ran into Bob Hope coming out of a
nightclub as I was going in. I was very shy in those days,
but I blurted out "Mr. Hope, if only I'd known you were here,
I would have asked you to dance!" He replied "I wish you had,
I would have liked that." Then he graciously sat down at a table
and we had a little chat.

In answer to the quiz, if I happened to see Leonard Cohen sitting
alone at a table, I really don't think I could resist the temptation to
go over and introduce myself, but if it seemed like he just wanted to
be alone, I would try not to bother him.

ii would start up a conersation. i would love to tell him how important his songs have been to me

I would rush up to him, give him a hug and claim that we were old friends. Then I would ask if I could come and live with him, and if he would care to write me a song, maybe it could be called :"Peter, have I not been good to you"

I bet we would then build up a future together and raise kids, and be rolemodels for the rest of the world.

Peter