MR. LORD GOES TO WASHINGTON

6/1/06 MR. LORD GOES TO WASHINGTON

There are some perks of working at this job. A guy in our office, Frank, occasionally helps out with White House events, and I was able to use his extra seat at a Kenny Chesney concert for the President in the East Room of the White House. The concert was great, and I think you can even see a photo of it and me on the White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060516-11.html). Prior to the concert, Frank and I found ourselves in line to shake hands with the President.

There's a time to give a sales pitch, and there's a time not to give a sales pitch. Being in a receiving line with President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Howard, and the First Ladies of the United States and Australia is a time not to be a sales guy. My plan was to simply say "Its a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Prime Minister. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President," and move on.

As Frank and I get closer, I see Prime Minister Howard standing there and chatting, holding a tea cup, saucer and spoon, taking a sip from time to time. He's not quite a tall fellow, possibly 5'7 or 5'8, with a ring of white hair, and glasses, looking every bit like your old favorite univerisity professor. He looks at me, and since I'm a good 20 years younger than the average guest (50s-60s), assumes I must be a White House staffer.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Prime Minister," I say, and start to shuffle the next two feet over toward Bush.

"Yes," he replies, and surprises me by asking over his tea cup, eyebrows raised, "So, in what part of the White House do you work?"

"Uh, actually, sir, I work for a company called Premiere Speakers Bureau. We book business speakers and leaders for corporate events." I felt that was very to-the-point and not at all ‘salesy’.

President Bush gets a grin on his face and says loudly "That means he's trolling for people like you!" while shaking my hand.

Frank is standing behind me and trying not to laugh at my having just been made fun of by the President. What was even funnier to me is that at that moment, President Bush's body language was exactly like my dad's after he thinks he's said something particularly funny- big grin with lips pressed together, eyes sort of half closed, kind of nodding as he silently chuckled to himself. It made me feel a bit at home in the White House that the Harvard-Yale educated, most powerful man in the world was acting just like my Indiana farmer/truck driver dad. Had he added on a good "I reckon", I would have instinctively asked to borrow the car for a date Friday night.

But the dessert and concert were great, and a good time was had by all.