I subbed at a local high school on Monday and one of the students told me she met Barack Obama in person when she visited the Asheville area this past weekend. She and two other students were traveling to Rockingham along some back roads. They stopped at a gas station and the people there told them President Obama was just up the road walking on the Appalachian Trail. They didn't believe them at first, but decided "What the heck?" so they drove up the road to take a look. Sure enough, she said they found the largest, super-stretch limo she had ever seen with flags all over it. They got out and went up the trail, where they soon met several Secret Service agents who confirmed that Barack Obama was, indeed, walking on the trail. They asked if they could meet the President. The Secret Service searched them, ran metal detectors around them, then allowed them to approach the President. The student in my class actually shook hands with Barack. He told her he was hoping to find some "good ole, down home cooking" while in the area. I asked her what it was like to meet the President of the United States. She said "It was pretty overwhelming." I would have to agree with that. Even though this was a biology class, I took a few minutes to hold a discussion about the Office of President and the President himself. A number of students didn't like Obama, but I was very impressed by one girl who said "Whether you like him or not, he IS the President and deserves respect for his position". I told her I agreed. I also told students it was very possible to disagree with Obama and/or his policies without being a racist. One Costa Rican girl said she thought Obama was very attractive. :wub: I think it would be very cool to meet the President in person and I'm REALLY impressed Obama and the Secret Service would agree to an impromptu meeting like this. I give Obama a lot of credit for making himself approachable to ordinary citizens. :thumb:
That's a fun story! I grew up in Asheville (my parents still live there), and everyone was so excited about their visit last weekend! I was in DC over Spring Break and saw him in his motorcade, and that was such a thrill, so I can't imagine how it must have felt for those students to have met him!
Apparently, according to the newspaper, I was at a ski resort with the First Lady and First Kids and we were even on the same slope at the exact same time of the day for hours and it was so low key I didn't notice. I still have doubts about some of the details of that article because seriously you would have thought I would have noticed!
What a cool story! I was at an event with Obama in... 2005, I think? When he was still a senator. No handshake or introduction, sadly. One of my students met both Clintons last year, for which I am greatly jealous. Back in the day, I was at the Vatican the same day as Tony Blair... his jerk bodyguards prevented anyone from getting close to anything of note. This was shortly after the beginning of the Iraq War so they were probably extra paranoid. Tony Blair is super short in real life. Politicians are way more interesting to me than any other public figures.
