So I got to shake hands with The President tonight.....

[mikita]

I was at dinner in Asheville, and had to use the restroom (per usual). When I came out, I was told to step to the side, as the POTUS was heading up the stairs.
So I said, OK.... There I am, flanked by Secret Service, and the President walks up the stairs and holds out his hand, and asks me my name.

Fortunately, I remembered it, and answered him, and welcomed him to Asheville. Then the First Lady, who was already seated, waved and I waved back and said Hi!

My only brush EVUH with a POTUS and FLOTUS. I don't have grandchildren or children to tell this story to, so you guys are it!

Mikita

[spanone]

1. that's great!!! a moment for a lifetime.

[pitohui]

2. whooty hoot congratulations!

that's super neat

[underpants]

3. That is great-he sought out YOUR hand? how cool

:patriot:

[mikita]

8. he did...

I guess he's more used to it than I am. LOL.

[derby378]

4. That was very nice of the Obamas

Good for you! :hi:

[lonestarnot]

5. Woohoo.

:hi:

[bear425]

6. Hey! I lived in Asheville for a while.

Where were you at dinner and do we know each other?

[mikita]

12. we were at Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village

a funny addition ... one of the SS guys was not going to let me go to the restroom. I said to him "you really don't want to stop me". At that point, it wasn't clear to me what was going on (duh), but a female SS agent let me carry on. She probably saw the "need a loo" look in my eyes.

[bear425]

20. Ooh very nice little place.

There are so many great restaurants in Asheville. I miss the place and hope to visit at the end of this summer.

Happy for you to have your chance meeting of the Potus and Flotus!

[bear425]

22. ok dupe. sorry n/t

[AwakeAtLast]

7. That is so awesome!!!

What a special memory for you! :bounce:

[Berserker]

9. Lucky

very lucky. I wish I could meet them.

[malaise]

10. I'm totally jealous

The closest I'm getting to Obama is my inauguration mug that one of my sisters bought for me. Lucky you! :D

[Political Heretic]

11. Did you ask him when he was going to publicly acknowledge our national crisis

and make it the national political priority required in order to save the country?

Or did you just go, "OMG ITS THE PRESIDENT!" :bounce: :applause: :patriot:

I know I know... it wouldn't have been "polite" to ask that.

[MindandSoul]

98. You seem to have a difficult time looking at the "half full" glass. . .

and remembering that there is a time for everything!

This was a light, cheerful, happy post.
I'm glad this person had a chance to have a quick encounter with the President!
What's wrong with letting go of your negativity for just a few minutes???

[bobbolink]

104. Tell ya what.... YOU step into *my* shoes and lets see how Pollyanna you are then.

You know, just seeing posts like this that make fun of people who are in pain would teach you plenty.

[leeloo]

13. Never ever wash your hand again........

[NYC_SKP]

14. You need to go out right fucking now and make some grandchildren.

This is too memorable not to share with the next generation or two.

Any nieces or nephews?

Congrats, that's awesome!

:toast:

[wtmusic]

19. I don't think I've ever seen a mod swear before.

Some fucking decorum, please.

[malaise]

28. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahaahah

:rofl:

[NYC_SKP]

29. .

:rofl:

I almost forgot.

Ahem.

(straightens tie, stands erect)

[abq e streeter]

79. Ha--now he said "erect"

[mikita]

26. a bit too late for me....

if you catch my drift.....

But it's been fun for tonight.

[bobbolink]

105. "Right fucking now"?

Do you know what DUer that phrase is making fun of?

BTW, she has died, so it might be nice to drop that bit of poking fun of her.

[wtmusic]

15. W would never have the class to do that with a stranger.

But he didn't have that "hopey-changey" thing.

[vanboggie]

87. * would have wiped his hands on ya

Glad you met a real POTUS and one who has class. Congrats!

[sandnsea]

16. Oh how cool!

I read about that restaurant and the menu sounds extraordinary. Was it a lucky break, or did you get a heads up? I bet you are floating on air, I would be!

[mikita]

23. interestingly,

no heads up at all. The word around town was a totally different place, where the food IMHO isn't as good. So we were trying to stay out of the frenzy, and lo, this happened.

[NanceGreggs]

17. Colour me GREEN with envy ...

... and immensely happy that you've shared this story with all of us here!

[Doremus]

18. I am so jealous!

A moment to remember for sure!

[Redstone]

21. Good deal. You should indeed feel thrilled.

Redstone

[kentuck]

24. Excellent report !

I shall live vicariously thru our fellow DUer.. :-)

[tavalon]

25. That's magnificent!

Even if he doesn't always do what I want him to, he is a great man.

[whathehell]

69. +1...and on top of it

He's a babe!:loveya:

[proteus_lives]

27. Cool!!

Maybe you'll have children to tell it to someday!

[One Voice]

30. Lucky You!

Wow, how awesome!:fistbump:

[tabatha]

31. I'm glad you remembered your name --- LOL.

I would have forgotten.

How fricking awesome.

[Clyde39]

32. I have eaten there----an unpretentious, nice place

I live in Asheville and have been following all the Obama news----very exciting. I envy you getting to meet him like that!!

[mikita]

35. I was so totally trying to stay out of the frenzy....

funny how it worked out. :hi:

I will never catch grief again for my tiny bladder....

[FLyellowdog]

33. Oh my goodness!!!! How wonderful.nt

[applegrove]

34. Very exciting.

[Raschel]

36. So what did he look like up close? Better? Taller? Did he smell good? I want details!

[jaxx]

37. You lucky person!!

I love it that the Obama's are out around town, eating at the restaurants, instead of room service to keep them hidden away. They are great!

ps....I met the President in 2004 when he was running for the senate and got to shake his hand. He is a really nice man, and took the time to chat a minute. I'll never forget that moment.

[BlooInBloo]

38. See this? This is the look of PURE UNADULTERATED JEALOSY!

So take that. :P

[Hekate]

45. That is a roflmao picture

:P

[mikita]

50. that is just too funny...

thanks for that.... :-)

[Frustratedlady]

84. What a great photo!

Hopefully, I will get my chance to meet him next week!

[donheld]

39. Lucky duck

:toast:

[Lochloosa]

40. I have to know...

Did you wash your hands before coming out of the bathroom?:shrug:

[mikita]

49. yup!

and contrary to a suggestion up-thread, I've washed my hands since!!

[MilesColtrane]

41. You cheerleading, DLC loving, war criminal collaborator!!

:sarcasm:

[liberalpragmatist]

99. See above

@11.

[MilesColtrane]

106. Yeah, that one's still unignored, but it's only a matter of time.

[KT2000]

42. Very Cool!

and good on you for remembering your name - pretty sure I would have blanked.

[meowomon]

43. OMG! WHAT A TREAT!!

Jeebus, I'd pee myself if I got to shake hands with Mr. President and wave at his lovely first lady!!!!! Next time you get to meet and greet the POTUS and FLOTUS, tell 'em I said hello!

[Hekate]

44. Awesome! AWEsome! How cool is that?

Thanks for sharing with us, too.

Hekate

[eagertolearn]

46. Thanks for sharing...brings back memories of shaking his hand

during the elections. My 19 year old daughter shook it at all three Oregon rallies. I got to sit in the front row at the Pendelton town hall meeting with Obama and when he came around to shake hands my son climbed over a bunch of seats and got there just in time to shake it too as he was taking all these pictures of him. My daughter got tickets to the Portland one by chance because she was on the internet talking to a friend who told her he was coming. You could only get one ticket from each e-mail address and she quickly put all our separate ones in and when she tried for the 5th she couldn't get it but my husband had to work anyway. We got in line at 3am (after driving 4 hours) and got great seats. Sharing that time with my kids was unbelievable. There were people of all colors there and we were all one. There was one black man working there and he was just walking around with the biggest smile on his face looking up to the crowd and raising his hands to the cheering. Another came in late and saw the spare seat next to me and scooted in next to us. She was very elegant and just cried and smiled the whole rally. All the hope we had for him is finally starting to come to fruit. We need to hit the streets again and cheer him on.

[Unrepentant Fenian]

47. VERY Cool !! Too bad you couldn't get a picture!

[DemReadingDU]

48. Awesome, thanks for sharing!

[zoff]

51. I'm up for adoption ...

... no diaper-changing, no day-care, and no potty training.

[brewens]

52. How was the hand shake? I'd bet he has it down perfect.

I would bet that Bush would go for the too firm hand shake to compensate for being suck a punk! I hate guys that do that. You give them the normal shake and they try to impress you with how strong theirs is. It really makes me wish I had gone for the gorilla crush hand shake and not let go till I had them on their knees!

[peekaloo]

53. What? No terrorist fist bump? What kind of totalitarian socialist are you????

:D

[tallahasseedem]

54. Okay, I admit it...

I'm completely jealous! :D

[Martin Eden]

55. If I ever move to the South, the Asheville area would be my first choice

It's a 10 hour drive from my home near Chicago, but I've been to western North Carolina several times. I absolutely love the mountains and waterfalls of that beautiful area.

[harmonicon]

56. neat - sounds really exciting (nt)

[Turbineguy]

57. Cool!

A memory to enjoy! Thanks for letting us enjoy it too.

[lunatica]

58. Congratulations!!!

Cool!

[vduhr]

59. OMG! So cool! I'm jealous.

The closest I got was at the Albuquerque rally in October 2008, about 50 feet from the stage, squeezed in a crowd of an estimated 40,000, but it was worth it.

[abq e streeter]

81. The one at Johnson field I assume--I was sicker than hell that day and couldn't go

sounded like an incredible event ....did shake Al Gore's hand at the Hyatt Regency downtown once... And saw Bill Clinton from about that same distance at the 3:00 AM election eve rally at the Sunport in '92 ( froze our asses off too, but worth it)---when I saw how many people were there at 3:00 AM, I knew he was gonna win...I bet you had the same feeling seeing the turnout for Obama


:hi: from N.E. Albq

[vduhr]

107. Yup, Johnson Field

We stood in line for over 5 hours and then stood on the field for another 2 hours waiting for the rally to begin. I was so stiff, I could barely walk because we were pressed up into the crowd near the barriers, but everyone was smiling and singing along with the music while we waited. I know everyone felt sure he was going to win, the feeling in the crowd was entirely positive. I also saw Clinton at a rally on his first run for Pres (living in Antioch, CA at the time).

I was also at John Kerry's rally downtown Abq just before the election in 2004.

Hi back to ya' from Abq! :hi:

[patrice]

60. Awesome! Did you look into his eyes?

[mikita]

62. yes,

he was walking up the stairs towards me, and I focused on his eyes. Couldn't tell you a thing about what he was wearing.....

[patrice]

64. Not that I suspect that he needs it, but that's a good thing to do, to remind them that we are real

humans, not just polling numbers.

[elocs]

61. Good for you! I was within 20 feet or so at a speech and that was great for me.

I never had a hope for anything more.

[graywarrior]

63. Truly awesome!

[Fire1]

65. In the right place at the right time!! How wonderful!! n/t

[Saturday]

66. Wow, that's wonderful. nt

[mnhtnbb]

67. How cool is that!?!

[kanda]

68. I'm excited for you!

That's really cool. And congratulations on remembering your name--I would've so totally flubbed that up.

[road2000]

70. Add me to the jealous list!

Were they in Asheville for an "occasion," or were they taking some time off?

[mikita]

71. vacation weekend, here's the link

to the local coverage

http://www.citizen-times.com/

[sonias]

72. Great for you

Great timing! Now you can't be mad at your bladder anymore . :)

[Scurrilous]

73. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Aviation Pro]

74. Tres cool....

...no less cooler is the aircraft that the President and First Lady used, a USAF C-40 (the 737NG).



The reason why is that Asheville's (KAVL) runways (16/34) have a length of 8001' with an elevation of 2400' (the 74 would have stretched the safety margin a little too much).

[Drops_not_Dope]

75. I hope after that

you washed your hand (s).

[Blue Diadem]

76. Cool! We were lucky to meet the VP and his wife at a campaign stop.

Something I'll always remember too.

Congrat's on remembering your name!

I am sooooo jealous!

[LiberalLoner]

77. How awesome! :) Thanks for sharing with us! :) n/t

[AnnieBW]

78. Awesome!

It's a good thing that you already washed that hand. If it were me, I'd never wash that hand again!

[Flying Dream Blues]

80. That is so cool! Love that Michelle waved, too.

I'm happy for you and only wish I had been there, too! I hear great things about Asheville and want to come visit.
:hi:

[mikita]

82. I can recommend Asheville as a great place to visit....

it seems to appeal to most tourists, even if on different levels.

I'm certain that the President's visit will help the tourist industry here.

Hope you can make it for a visit. :hi:


PS As I said :hi: to Mrs. Obama, the secret service told me I could go back downstairs .... (and I thought I was going to be invited to join the table to discuss foreign policy!!)

Mikita

[Lucian]

83. That's really cool.

:)

[Christa]

85. Tottaly friggin' AWESOME!

I am so happy for you!!

I would have gone completely lame in the knees, like a ragdoll, I think

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[AnArmyVeteran]

86. Great! It must have been a thrill!

In the late 90s my older brother was walking on an Oahu beach and met President Clinton who was jogging on the beach. He got to talk with him for a few minutes. But it was such a waste. My brother is a right wing fanatic who hated Clinton. I wish I was the one who got to meet President Clinton. I would have appreciated it. But meeting President Obama would be even more of a thrill.

[dmr]

88. That is awesome. His smile gets me all the time. It comes so natural

to both him and Michelle. The SS would have to pick me up off the floor from a swoon and faint!
:loveya:
Were you able to check out his behind? I think he's got the finest butt around!
:hi:

[rury]

95. He ABSOLUTELY has the finest butt ever!

The man fills his pants out, front and back!!

[AnArmyVeteran]

100. I remember a gal voting against the democratic presidential nominee because his lips were too thin

I hope you didn't take anatomy of a candidate into consideration when you voted? If we did that I'd be voting for the hottest looking women in the country and wouldn't even care if they could read, write or speak.

[JI7]

89. one of those things where a few seconds or minutes you might have missed him

very nice experience

[goclark]

90. What a memory to hold in your heart forever

The Service was beautiful on CNN.

[shireen]

91. that's nice of him

he saw you and knew that you'd want to say hello and he took the initiative. very gracious and sweet.

[proud patriot]

92. wheeeeeeeeeeee !

[Orrex]

93. Did the First Lady mention my name?

She's totally into me. We're trying to keep it on the DL, but I figure I can mention it here among my chums.



Very cool story for you! Closest I ever got to meeting the President was shaking hands with the local Rotary Club President when I was in high school.

Not quite the same impact, I think!

[2Design]

94. love all the support he and michele got from the people there

http://www.citizen-times.com/

[Lindsey]

96. Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

That's so awesome!

[Lindsey]

97. Wow! Were they excited or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[onpatrol98]

101. Priceless!!!

[eppur_se_muova]

102. Well, that tops my "I saw Walter Mondale drive by half a block away" saga.

:P

But mine did have a guy shouting "Jes-SIE! Jes-SIE!" in it.

[mikita]

103. that cracked me up n/t