What do the collective think, was it poor etiquette or not?
He was probably nackered.
I must admit in similar circumstances I would normally speak to whoever I wanted to draught. I have done a couple of times and am invariably told it's not a problem. I guess it _was_ poor etiquette, but it wouldn't bother me, and certainly wouldn't bother me enough to post a question to usenet about it .. 😉