Last night I had dinner with Dan Quayle and Spence Abraham!

[Skinner]

Well... I didn't *actually* have dinner with them. But they were at the next table.

My birthday is coming up, so my wife and my niece took me out to a fancy dinner last night in order to celebrate. We arrived at the restaurant and told them our name, then, a member of the staff tells the hostess "Seat them next to the vice president."

We're walking to the table, and we're muttering to each other, "what the heck was that guy talking about?" I'm thinking he's referring to some obscure vice president of some company or something. But, still, we're looking around for an old bald guy with glasses.

As we approached our table, I notice that Energy Secretary Spence Abraham is sitting at the next table, looking at us as we approach. As we sit down, I whisper to my wife and niece, "your former Senator is stitting at the next table." (My wife and niece are from Michigan.) We try to inconspicuously peek over at the next table, but we don't see Dick Cheney there with him, so we figured that maybe the guy at the host table was joking or something. For fun, we start talking about Debbie Stabenow kinda loudly so they could hear us. (Debbie is the Dem that kicked Abraham out of the Senate -- my wife worked for her a while back, and my niece grew up volunteering in Michigan politics.)

After about five minutes we look over to see if we can get a better look, and there's Dan Quayle, along with his wife Marilyn. We couldn't tell who the fourth person at the table was. We tried eavesdropping a little bit. I overheard Spence joking that he had "sponsored a bill to eliminate it two years earlier" -- I assume he was referring to the Department of Energy. Later, we hear them say something about "Levin" and "Defense Secretary". We think that they may have been discussing possible appointees in a Kerry administration, but I suppose they could have also been talking about something involving Levin and Rumsfeld. (Carl Levin is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Arms Services Committee, and Spence's former colleague from Michigan.)

Anyway, It's not a particularly interesting story, but I thought you all might appreciate it. :)

[LynneSin]

1. And you were able to keep your dinner down

:puke:


Too bad you didn't take Cutout George with you :eyes:

[matcom]

2. did Dan have the baked Potatoe?

:D

[Skinner]

5. Dan had a very large slab of meat.

I think the meal did, in fact, include potatoe.

[WillParkinson]

20. Dan had a very large slab of meat....

And you said no sex threads....<grin>

Did you have to resist the urge to smack him?

[Skinner]

23. I gotta say...

I didn't really feel much of an urge to smack him. I can't really say that I hate the guy. I think my feelings toward Dan Quayle are closer to pity than hate. He always seemed kind of pathetic and child-like to me.

With Bush in the White House, I now know what it's like to want to smack a public figure.

[Zomby Woof]

24. "child-like" - exactly!

I tuned into some taped highlights of the funeral on PBS the other night, and it showed Quayle, not paying attention to the speaker. Instead, he was looking around to see who was there. It reminded me of a kid looking around for his buddies when reluctantly held still in a public place.

Happy Birthday (early), fellow June birthday celebrant! :party:

[Richardo]

26. "Child-like" maybe, but Quayle is still a PNAC signatory...

...that's the frightening part.

[Zomby Woof]

28. from what I understand

He signed on to be their official caddy at PNAC golf tournaments. Sponsored by Halliburton, of course. :o

[northofdenali]

45. Oh, ZW, how perfectly tacky!!

:loveya:

[ablbodyed]

3. What a perfect time for....

flatulence.

[Skinner]

6. LOL!

That woulda been pretty funny.

[molly]

4. WOW!! Did they know who you were?

obviously the restaurant staff knew. What a story!

[Skinner]

11. I'm certain that nobody knew.

I think that if the restaurant knew, they woulda seated us about a mile away. :)

[LynneSin]

7. Too bad you didn't get a picture with them

You could have requested it for your birthday.

Think of the fun we would have with Photoshop with a picture like that

[Skinner]

9. We didn't have a camera.

We were trying to think of something funny to do. It would have been pretty funny to get an autograph from Dan Quayle where he wishes me best of luck in my career or something like that. I was trying to think of a sneaky way to make him write the words "Democratic" and "Underground" in a message.

[molly]

15. Well, considering all the "visitors" we've had here lately

they know by now! :hi:

[Solly Mack]

8. Shame the menu didn't include roasted quail...

the fun you could have had ordering loudly...

[Skinner]

13. LOL

No quail on the menu, unfortunately. :D

[Ganja Ninja]

10. Maybe Rummy's about to be replaced by Levin?

It's looking like Rummy may be out soon. Appointing a Democrat could be one way for Bush to spread some of his failure around.

[Skinner]

12. Levin would never do that in a million years.

He's a good Democrat, liberal, and a Kerry supporter.

[molly]

14. Will you share the name of the restaurant?

[Skinner]

16. Olives.

It's really great. Only about a block from the White House, so I figured it might be possible that Cheney would eat there.

[northzax]

33. ahh, good old Todd English

happy early b-day, senor skinner glad you enjoyed the meal.

[radwriter0555]

17. I LOVE IT! Well done! I sit near Larry King a couple times a month

at breakfast, and tend to chat LOUDLY about our liberal issues, and voice loud support for Kerry every time he's in ear shot.

Good fun to be had by all.

[flamingyouth]

18. Nay, I think it's a very interesting story

Funny, in fact. Even better if they were talking about potential Kerry appointees. :D

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

19. Being from MI, too bad you couldn't have invited...

Jimmy Osterberg, that flower of Michigan Manhood(Da' Iggster).He would have made things really interesting. ;-)

[NYYFan]

21. Of course it's interesting.

More interesting that you were able to contain yourself without puking or ROFL. Does Marilyn still look like Daffy Duck ? Well, at least that's what my mom used to say she looked like. :shrug:

Happy early birthday, Skinner. :hi: :party:

[Skinner]

22. Thanks.

:party:

I had difficulty recognizing Marilyn. She looked pretty different. If she hadn't been sitting next to Dan, I wouldn't have had any clue who she was. To be honest, I'm not 100% totally sure it was her.

[Richardo]

25. A true "brush with greatness..."

For THEM, not you. :)

You merely had a brush with mediocrity.

[LTR]

27. How did they know to seat you next to Quayle?

Maybe the restaurant workers are DUers?

:shrug:

[Skinner]

31. You never know.

We're everywhere! :D

[UrbScotty]

29. Did Dolar$-and-$pence treat you better than he treated his constituents?

Inquiring Michigan Minds.....

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[Skinner]

32. He basically ignored us.

Which, I understand, is what he did for his constituents.

[UrbScotty]

39. Yep. That's $pence. (nt)

[NightTrain]

30. In the immortal words of Matt Groening....

"Dan Quayle is dumber than Ronald Reagan put together!"

[underpants]

34. Did they have POTATOE soup?

Or a baked POTATOE???????

I would have ordered it VERY loudly....no I wouldn't have I was raised in a good home.........I would have flicked a booger on him.

[1gobluedem]

35. My father was Spence Abraham's high school government teacher

We always ask -- what did you do to him? To which he replies "He wasn't very smart."

[Skinner]

36. Really?

Did Spence go to High School in Michigan?

[1gobluedem]

42. Yes

East Lansing High School. My father didn't teach there; he taught in another district nearby -- for awhile in the 1970s the three districts would combine for summer school or ESY (Extended School Year)and that's when he taught Spence.

I went to high school with Debbie Stabenow's brother who played tennis for my father (the tennis coach, obviously). She remains a family friend; we were so happy to see her beat Spence!

(I hope he doesn't read this; but he probably doesn't remember my father anyway).

[Parrcrow]

37. Quayle chews with his mouth open doesn't he?

[comsymp]

40. Only his soup

[newyawker99]

38. What a grea story!

Thanks for sharing it. :-)

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

41. It was a great story!

I enjoyed your brush with infamy. :D

I had dinner with George Harrison the same way. (He didn't eat much. He smoked a lot.)

[cally]

43. I'm smiling thinking

about both of them reading this thread. Good republicans can't even go out to a decent dinner without those pesky liberals! :evilgrin: Great story.

[Lisa]

44. "seat them next to the vice president"

Now THAT'S a phrase that I will likely never hear in my lifetime.


I'm afraid that I wouldn't have been able to resist offering him my baked potatoe.