Published Friday, January 25, 2008 1:48 PM
Updated Friday, January 25, 2008 1:49 PM

 

Watts Line

Having it My way On my day


Having it My way On my day

We get a day off for our birthday here at the newspaper. My original plan was to take the day and just have a little fun. That day was Friday. I didn't take it off.

Why?

'Cause being at work was going to be about as fun as it gets for a newspaper person. I'd have been crazy to stay home and fret about what I was missing.

First of all, Ryan Castle got a call from the Thompson campaign on Wednesday asking if Fred Thompson could have an interview with us.

Well, since both of us are huge "Law and Order" fans, that was a no-brainer.

"Sure," he told them, "Come on over. We'll be glad to interview him." He would arrive at 3:50 p.m. We'd be waiting.

Then we found out John Edwards was going to be in town at the Summerville Holiday Inn. At noon. We figured, "Why not?" I asked Publisher Ellen Priest if she wanted to join us and she said, sure thing.

So, she and Ryan met up at the Holiday Inn with a hundred or so other onlookers and had a big time reporting the event (It's always fun when there's media from all over the country covering a local do.)

After the Edwards hoopla, we finally made our way back to the office, downloaded photos from the event, and got ready for Thompson's arrival. (Somewhere in there, the Hubster dropped by with a vase of my favorite flowers, pink tulips.)

Just before 4 p.m. the big old Thompson bus came rolling down Doty Ave. and made a valiant turn into our driveway. (If you've ever been by the office, you'll know how much nerve it would take to bring a big bus down that narrow path.)

Thompson emerged, looking very tall and just like the TV character of which we are so fond.

He made his inside, greeting a few people on the way into our conference room. We got situated, were nearly mortified when he asked for water and we thought all we had was tap water. Fortunately, I opened the fridge to discover someone's bottled water which I promptly pressed into service and offered to the former senator, actor and presidential candidate. He answered our questions easily and sincerely. We then all headed for the street where he greeted Summervillians on the sidewalk outside the Summerville Museum and the Sweetwater Grill. Lot's of fun for all. We waved as his bus pulled away. In his wake was a photographer from the New York Times who needed to use our wireless internet to transmit his photos.

"Sure," we said, and left him there since by then we were late to the McCain rally. Ryan and I piled into Ellen's big old truck and she drove us to Kelly's Barbecue braving awful traffic, mostly because of the rally, but partly because it was rush hour. The yard in front of the restaurant was packed with hundreds of supporters and the curious. McCain had not arrived. He was stuck in the traffic generated by his own event. Journal Scene writer David Berman was already in place with other media, covering the event for us.

McCain's big old bus soon pulled in and the crowd went nuts chanting Mac is Back. Again it was entertaining to be part of a bigger, national story.

As I said at the top of this column, it was my birthday, and the Hubster was waiting at home for me. We had reservations at Oscar's for dinner. (Yummy.)

The next morning, our oldest Manchild, whom I had spoken with Friday morning, called.

"How was the rest of your birthday," he asked, wanting to know what had happened since we'd spoken at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

"Fantastic," I told him. "Every bit of it. A great day at work and a fun night out with your Daddy."

And it was. One of those days when you really do get to have it all.

Contact Judy Watts at jwatts@journalscene.com or 873-9424, ext. 220.