Posted Friday, October 08, 2010 02:12 PM
Meeting the president
One sunny day in late January 2013 an old man approached the White
House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park
bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would
like to go in and meet with President Obama."
The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Obama is no longer president and no longer resides here."
The old man said, "Okay," and walked away.
The
following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the
same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Obama."
The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Obama is no longer president and no longer resides here."
The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.
The
third day, the same man once again approached the White House and spoke
to the same U.S. Marine, saying, "I would like to go in and meet with
President Obama."
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point,
looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you
have come here asking to speak to Mr. Obama. I've told you already that
Mr. Obama is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't
you understand?"
The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow, sir."