| 09/16/09 03:36 PM |
#375
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Danny Applewhite
Thanks to all of you who have called or dropped me a line. Sorry I've not attended to this before, but I just registered the Mrs. and me for Friday night. Hopefully this will help put us close to or over the threshold for getting a bigger room. I remember how we all hated to be jammed together too tight on a Friday night . . . NOT!
The remembrances and stories on this board have been great to read. Here's one you may not have heard yet . . .
Not long after getting out of school, I got a call early one morning from a man who identified himself as a Special Agent for the Secret Service . . . Yes, THAT "Secret Service." Said he was conducting an investigation on behalf of the White House and wanted to ask me a few questions. . . in particular, did I know a "Mary Williamson"? Seems she had applied for a job there(ambassadorship or cabinent position or something).
Well, I was a little rattled . . . being called so early in the morning by a federal agent and all (or maybe it was just a matter of having been out too late the night before). Anyway, for the life of me I had no idea who he was talking about. I could think of no "Mary Williamson" that I knew. Did I say I was a little rattled? Actually I was alot rattled. I didn't want to get Ms. Williamson in trouble (whoever she was) and I sure didn't want to get Me in trouble either. So I did what any red-blooded young man who was confronted with the name of a woman he couldn't remember would do . . . I stalled. . . while my mind raced to try and place a Mary Williamson. All the while Mr. Special Agent became more and more agitated and suspicious. As his patience wore thin, he started to give me hints . . . "she's listed you as a reference, says you two have known each other all your lives", etc. Just as he began to sound like he thought he had uncovered the bigggest scandal since Watergate, that small bulb between my ears clicked on and I blurted out completely without thinking, "OH, YOU MEAN "MUFFIN"?!!"
Now it was Mr. Special Agent's turn to be rattled. He apparently had not been apprised of "Mary's" real name. He fell silent. But me, I was so happy to have finally made the connection, I couldn't shut up . . .I started gushing like the water over Williams Dam . . . "Oh Yes, I know MUFFIN! Known her all my life . . since grade school, really. Her family and mine are good friends. Great girl! We used to road-trip to visit Muffin and her friends in college. In fact she even dated one of my fraternity brothers, blah, blah, blah."
When I finally stopped to take a breath, Mr. Special Agent regained his composure and without saying much more than "thank you" hung up. After I settled down and reflected on what had just happened, I realized I probably had just torpedoed Mufffin's shot at working at the White House. Had this been during the Clinton years, I might have been consoled in the knowledge that I possibly saved her from a worse fate, but this was during Reagan's term and I'm sure it was a plum assignment.
Muffin, if you didn't get that job I think I know why . . . it wasn't your qualifications . . it was your choice of references.
The first drink next Friday is on me.
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