I once sat in a restaurant next to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and I never displayed my recognition and neither did anyone else in the restaurant. That did not mean we didn't recognize them.
The sunglasses signal: I don't want to be recognized. People are behaving intelligently and normally if they infer that she did not want to interact with people, that she was just trying to blend in and be like anyone else, and they respected her seeming desire for privacy.
I'm filing this under etiquette. Maybe the snobs at ABC News don't expect to find sophistication somewhere in the wilds of Ohio. I remember that John Lennon liked living in New York City because it was possible there for him to be a normal person:
He went to clubs to check out bands, strolled through Central Park, was a neighborhood fixture on the Upper West Side. He always said New York was the only place he could feel like a normal guy.That was long ago. Maybe it's not just New York anymore. Maybe even in Ohio a famous person who acts like a normal person can be treated like a normal person.
If so, it wrecks Hillary's Road Trip! concept. She's doing a routine of behaving like an "everyday American" as a way to meet everyday Americans. But in everyday America, everyday Americans leave you alone if they don't already know you. And — isn't it amazing! — everyday Americans might not be under the delusion that they are in a relationship with the various celebrities we see in the news.
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171 comments:
Think about this for a minute. Clinton and her staffers drive cross country and stop to eat and NONE of them make an effort to interact with the locals? That is damn weird - as if they felt uncomfortable amongst the locals.
And if that is the case, why did they even do the cross country drive if they are going to avoid people?
How is it a Surprise? She's on the road, and it was probably off the interstate.
It reads like an Onion Article. Woman stops to eat during cross-country trip. I'm sure Passersby were amazed by the unusually large amounts of blood.
Because everyone is just. Like. Me.
There is a difference of course a famous husband and wife having a private meal and a candidate for President hitting a food joint in with an entourage.
Maybe no one WANTED to recognize her. Maybe they all wanted to be left alone. They may all have been sitting in fear that she would approach them!
With the Clintons, it is always about them!
What a generous interpretation of what happened! Good girl.
Regular People, Act I, Scene 2.
"Who's there? Nay answer me: Stand, and unfold thyself.
Long live the Queen.
Hillary Clinton deserves no such respect. She is a criminal Oligarch who has done NOTHING that deserves the highest office in the free world.
She participated in the murder of a US Ambassador in Benghazi, then lied about some silly movie causing it, then said she fell and hit her head and couldn't testify, then said "what does it matter".
She violated the emoluments clause in attaining the SOS position in the Usurper admin., because that was what she was promised for keeping quiet about his ineligibility. She is now getting the rest of what was promised for allowing the Usurpation and destruction of the Republic.
I would never let her be that comfortable.
She is detestable.
The horrible thing is that she is seen to have a chance of winning, which proves that people go mad in crowds, and proving that women voting doomed the republic. They were the ones that elected the Usurper Hussein Obama, and they are the ones that give Hildebeast a chance of winning.
This is just so strange. It's not strange that elderly woman goes unnoticed while buying fast food. But everything else about this episode is.
Can't they just eat their burritos?
CWJ touched on what I was thinking. We older people tend to be sort of invisible especially to young people, but even to other old people.
One of the weird things about being old is noticing how younger attractive members of the opposite sex don't SEE you. They're not rejecting you, they don't see you at all. That could be it. Or maybe, they just want to eat their waffle.
The professors point is well taken that people do not see an actress out on Main Street as being the Character she plays in the local Playhouse's production three night s a week. They just see her as a real person.
This sanity may frighten the DC crowd who all think the Passion Play of Government is Hollywood East for great Icons.
Ordinary people don't wear sunglasses indoors.
Hillary WAS accompanied by Huma at the stop. Maybe Maumee, Ohio is just uncomfortable with lesbians.
They'll still serve them, of course. Not sure about catering.
I am Laslo.
If you can't say something nice....
If I met Hillary, all that I'd be able to think about is "What the %*^ were you thinking with those emails?"
BUT... I wouldn't want to make a scene...
So yeah, I'd probably do the 'polite' thing too.
Plus, who is she really? The wife of a former president, a former Senator from some other state, and a mediocre ex- SoS?
Outside of the DC bubble, those people aren't celebrities. NORMAL PEOPLE don't care that much about politics. If she'd been a sports star or a TV star, sure. But a mediocre politician? Sheesh.
The vapid media are reporting Hillary's every vapid move.
It will all be choreographed to look authentic.
On the other hand, if I saw Althouse and Meade in a restaurant, I'd probably want to say "Hi. I love the blog. Thanks for keeping it going."
But, unlike Hillary, they contribute something to the discussion....
Ordinary people drive themselves to Chipotle, and that secret security detail didn't just sit in the car. They went into the restaurant before here wearing their sunglasses, earpieces and talking onto their hands.
Althouse:
I take it you saw Lennon & Ono in NYC ?
Don't NYC residents ho-hum when they see celebs in NYV?
I expect the celeb treatment is much different in most other parts of the country.
"I don't want to be recognized."
For some reason that reminded me of the old joke where a guy is lamenting the decline of standards in America.
"Its getting so bad the Baptists have started speaking to one another in the liquor store."
Saw Sinbad sitting alone in an airport once. Wanted to go up to him and just thank him for his body of work, which I like very much, but decided to respect his privacy.
I've been in Ohio for decades and have never seen a celebrity.
I ran across Eddie Murphy in LA. I was on a 72 hr leave and heading to my girlfriends apartment. He was sitting on the steps like a normal guy reading a script.
Recognized him instantly and ignored him. Didn't want to be one of those "oh god Eddie! I'm your favorite fan!" Plus, the guy was trying to work.
I forget the movie's name. It was the one where sauve guy with game falls for office bitch and loses his balls. They used an apartment in the building for the set.
The sunglasses explanation has something to recommend it but not that much.
"... if they infer that she did not want to interact with people..."
That I believe. The stories, including the first hand experience of my neighbors, of Hillary's contempt for the little people are legion.
"... that she was just trying to blend in and be like anyone else..."
This I don't buy.
LBJ always said a handshake was worth 100 votes, because each person who met the politician would tell their friends and family nice things about them. A shrewd politician would never miss an opportunity to meet locals working or patronizing a fast food joint--certainly not in a swing state. Why go in with sunglasses, and not make an attempt to converse with some of the people (without, of course, interrupting them if they just want their burrito and be gone)?
This is the difference between Hillary and her husband. She's just not very good at this.
"Saw Sinbad sitting alone in an airport once. Wanted to go up to him and just thank him for his body of work, which I like very much, but decided to respect his privacy."
You could have at least thanked him for defeating the sword-wielding skeletons.
Because there is also a heroic swashbuckling character named Sinbad who once fought sword-wielding skeletons in a movie.
But I am assuming you saw the Sinbad who made a cameo appearance in the comedy movie Good Burger.
I am Laslo.
1) The stop was made on Monday afternoon and the (presumably) in store security footage was widely released by early Tuesday morning. That's some fine work by reporters to so quickly receive permission from some Chipotle security official to release in house security video of it's customers and employees and by Chipotle to quickly weigh and waive any possible liabilities of releasing said video.
2) Had there been an attempt at interaction by Hillary my first thought would be said candidate was quite rude. Can't I just eat by burrito bowl?
This is the difference between Hillary and her husband. She's just not very good at this.
Excellent point. People who meet her sense her discomfort and try to disengage, as a way to censor discomfort.
"I once sat in a restaurant next to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.."
There is a comparison to be made between John Lennon and Yoko and Bill Clinton and Hillary.
John and Bill were the charismatic ones that the people felt a connection towards.
Yoko and Hillary (typically only the first name needed) are seen as the manipulative ones without much charisma that rode on the coat-tails of their spouses.
My point: Hillary would have broken up the Beatles.
I am Laslo.
Does it seem to anyone else that Hillary! is just going through the motions? It's like her whole operation since leaving State has been an exercise in collecting money and producing political by-products. Strange. Most people on a press-the-flesh junket actually press the flesh.
Todd has it, I think. Yesterday, having heard about this "road trip" business, my instant reaction was: Boy, am I ever glad I do not live in one of these states where a Presidential candidate might pop in at any moment and foul up my day...or, as we saw with "Joe the Plumber", foul up my whole life.
I don't always approve of the decisions that Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina make. But I would not see my state trade places with any of them for all the tea in China.
Do we have any live video of Hillary Clinton since March 10?
"There is a comparison to be made between John Lennon and Yoko and Bill Clinton and Hillary."
I am somewhat surprised that Althouse didn't make this connection.
I am Laslo.
In Europe they are having a discussion they call "the future of the past", meaning what part can, does, will or should the various national traditions play in a "united" Europe or has Europe ever really united?
When I read the phrase "the future of the past" it struck a chord as if all our presidential discussions centered on that - is Hilary too old? is Rubio too young? is Scott Walker too Midwestern? is Elizabeth Warren too coastie? - it was as if the common theme was the future of different pasts in a future America.
And Obama - his idea was there is no future in the past most of you have, screw you.
I'm sure the press would like the following headline, but are self-aware enough to refrain:
"Midwestern Rubes Taken-In by The Old Sunglasses Trick"
"They may all have been sitting in fear that she would approach them!"
No kidding. You don't genuflect correctly and parrot the correct talking points, the leftist mob will declare you are sexist and burn down your business with another little online Kristallnacht. And you'll be reported for fraud "just in case"
Laslo,
You're thinking of Jason and the Argonauts.
I am the pedantic douche on the Internet who corrects people about minor shit.
One reason for wearing sunglasses indoors is that you are or have been crying. Another is that you've had a very bad night and look and feel awful. Another is: domestic violence.
There are many reasons to leave a woman alone if she's wearing sunglasses indoors.
She could be a drug addict.
AJ Lynch said... on 4/14/15, @ 7:51 AM:
" Think about this for a minute. Clinton and her staffers drive cross country and stop to eat and NONE of them make an effort to interact with the locals? That is damn weird - as if they felt uncomfortable amongst the locals.
And if that is the case, why did they even do the cross country drive if they are going to avoid people?"
They want people to think she has interacted with people, but they actually don't want to.
Not because it is such a burden, but because something could go "wrong" with what she says, or a health problem discerned.
Hillary has a strange way of getting in touch with the folks whose votes she presumably needs. She is acting like she did when she lost to Obama the first time. Same tactics as before except with sunglasses this time. Unless she is surrounded by acolytes and worshippers she does not know how to mingle and that will be her downfall. That and a multimillionaire laboring to appeal to the hoi polloi who are good at spotting phonies and insincerity.
My guess is that no one bothered to interact with her and they decided to spin this in an attempt to get "buzz" the idea being that everyone now is going to be fascinated at how she slipped under the radar and will start an internet meme of "Where in the world is Hillary."
Except no one really cares.
Brian,
Joe the plumber was an Ohioan. Maybe the rest of the state got the message.
But seriously, encountering celebrities in general vs. actively campaigning politicians are not comparable situations.
"There are many reasons to leave a woman alone if she's wearing sunglasses indoors."
We DO know of Hillary's propensity for vodka...
I am Laslo.
It also makes sense for people to think: That sure looks like Hillary, but since she's not trying to meet us, it can't be.
"They went into the restaurant before here wearing their sunglasses, earpieces and talking onto their hands."
Exactly. An elderly woman wearing sunglasses and surrounded by security details of the sort who ran over Jim Treacher with a Yukon would scare the shit out of me, too.
Hillary is entitled to the White house. She has it bought and paid for and expects delivery on time. Not like last time when the system shafted her over the delusion of electing a first Black President
Money reacts to political power which has secrets that blackmail the important money men into submission.
CWJ: Ha! Well played. (And you can definitely add the general election "swing" states to the list of states I don't want to trade places with.)
And your average every day intelligent American wants nothing to do with Hillary. Just saying.
I think you should file it under bullshit as well. They have a set of snappy little press releases all across the nation.
I'll give better than even money that she has an advance team at every stop, preparing the commoners for The Arrival (Low key, please? Act like you don't recognize her.)
Methinks the advance minions are also scrubbing the toilet facilities. Or causing subminions to do so.
"... so one time we stopped in this tiny town and somewhere in the Midwest whose name escapes me at the moment, and the town was honestly no more than 2 blocks long, and we are walking on this little sidewalk that they had, and there was a guy there, walking past us, and I was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, and the guy says as we walk by 'Hey Jerry' and kept walking.
"And that, to this day, so blows my mind that not only was he NOT SURPRISED that I was in this town, population 115, but that I just walked by him, he recognized me and he felt the need to say anything more than 'hi.' Not 'what the hell are you doing here?' "
http://interviewly.com/i/jerry-seinfeld-jan-2014-reddit
One reason for wearing sunglasses indoors is that you are or have been crying.
Another reason is that you just fucking forget to take them off.
Another reason to wear sunglasses indoors is if kittens have been trying to scratch the hell out of your eyes.
I wonder if they actually ate the food. There's a story about John Kerry in 2004- he did a meet and greet at a Wendy's- bought food, left, and threw all the food away a mile or so down the road. Possibly apocryphal, but I want to believe!
I noticed, the actor, Bruce McGill, on evening in San Antonio. I ordered a drink for him and on my way out stopped at his table and thanked him for his work in various movies and TV shows.
We both had been in the same middle school and high school home room back in the sixties. He told me to never avoid "violating" his privacy as he was grateful for the success his fans had granted him.
Another reason is that you just fucking forget to take them off.
So you're saying senility is setting in? Possibly.
I have to say the comments in this thread are making me chuckle at my desk. That's embarrassing.
David,
I second your comment, but this is what makes it so strange. What is the message that the Hillary campaign is trying to send? Look, Hillary is like everyone else. That won't wash because no one will believe it. Hillary understands everyday people. By ignoring them, and being ignored in return? No message, just stopping for lunch. That's just naive. When she got in that van she knew or should have known she was on campaign. Everytime she gets out of that van she knew or should have known she's campaigning.
Maybe it is just incompetence. I just don't know.
I am so sick of reading "I am Laslo"
You know what they say: Only two types of people wear sunglasses indoors. Blind folks and assholes.
ABCNews reports in "Hillary Clinton Makes Surprise Pit Stop at Chipotle in Ohio During Presidential Roadtrip."
Wait! "Presidential Roadtrip"?! When was she elected?!
Flyover country just returned the favor to Mrs. I-Haven't-Driven-A-Car-In-Fifteen-Years.
In other news . . .
Lincoln was murdered 150 years ago today, and 155 years ago the Pony Express began operations.
Guess which one is featured on Google's sign in page.
The everyday politician politely ignored by the everyday people.
Oh look! Hillary stands in like and orders her own food. Hillary buses her tray.
Now there is an everyday woman. She’s just like us. LOL.
This was just a planned photo op.
"But in everyday America, everyday Americans leave you alone if they don't already know you."
Right. That's why the Lennon quote is BS.
Re Hillary!: She can't even campaign honestly.
All part of the story. "See! She's so normal, she just blends in! She's just like us!"
I am so sick of reading "I am Laslo"
Some people just skip that part.
If you can't get stopped in time, you're reading too fast.
This I don't buy.
If she was trying to blend in, then why did someone dig up the security tape?
How often are we treated to celebrities on security tape?
Gawd!
Althouse shoould enjoy my "brush with greatness".
Bob Dylan sat right next to me one night in a bar. Literally next to me. The bar had a long continuous bench and he sat at one table and I sat at the next table. When he sat down I looked up, gave a little start and he just give a little sheepish grin and I fave him a little nod. That was it for more than two hours.
No one in the bar approached him that night. So its just not NYC.
Ann, post 10/1975, the Lennon until summer 1980' were the furthest things from political animals. they took their privacy as a privilege. You cannot say anything close to that for either Clinton for the past quarter-century.
If she really wanted to do something interesting, she could have driven a few more hours and stopped at Memories Pizza.
"But God bless her, she tries and she tries.".
An article on appreciating Yoko that bears many similarities to the life arc of Hillary.
I am serious about Hillary = Yoko.
Althouse, you can be an early adopter...
I am Laslo.
I was at Arlene Grocery in the East Village years ago. I'd gone to see a band and it was between sets. I was getting a drink at the bar and Alice Cooper walks in with a younger lady friend. The bartender and Cooper strike up a conversation like old friends; meanwhile the blonde who'd come in with Cooper held a conversation seemingly with herself about what a jerk she had for an agent.
This is what passed for normal in that time and place. Pretty sure the Clinton Chipotle visit was just as surreal for the locals.
If Hillary wanted to gain supporters for her candidacy, wouldn't she be kissing babies? Or at least approaching people with, "Hi, I'm Hillary Clinton, I'm running for president, and I'd like to ask for your support."
Yeah, I know, she's a celebrity. And celebrities just don't go up to people like that.
But I bet Scott Walker would.
(Or would he? What's the scuttlebutt in Madison?)
As yet another aside, can you imagine how much fun a young Hunter S. Thompson would have following Hillary's entourage on this road trip?
When you sit next to John Lennon and Yoko Ono you resist the urge to intrude. When you sit next to Yoko you hope that she resists that urge.
It also makes sense for people to think: That sure looks like Hillary, but since she's not trying to meet us, it can't be.
More likely it was: Is that...? No, Hillary is much younger.
Because the media has been pulling a Trayvon on us whenever they need a stock photo of Hillary.
Its always of Hillary 10-15 years younger than she is today. So maybe people don't recognize the true Hillary when they she her, since she looks almost elderly in real life.
I always thought wearing sunglasses indoors meant you were cool.
When did we lose that?
I personally would approach a celebrity--one I didn't loathe--and engage them just for the sake of conversation.
I shared an elevator alone with George Carlin in Manhattan in the 1960s and we chatted. I'd stop the elevator if I were with Greg Gutfeld.
She looked like just another little old lady with a die job.
@David - It's the Pnmy Express.
This makes sense. It has to do with communication between places far apart, and it's good news.
If they did Lincoln, they'd do it February 12.
They probably didn't do Martin Luther King either, on April 4.
Cracker Emcee at 0836, There are no sword-wielding skeletons in the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes. :-)
I hope she has the good grace to crack her window if she got the black beans. Hey what is that back there? It ain't Ruffles and Flourishes I hear.
Ignore Mrs. Clinton and the media machine will make sure you know she was there.
Hey Grandma! Crack the window, we're dying back here.
It would appear that Marc Puckett is not a Ray Harryhausen fan,
I was standing at the bar in a crowded concert hall listening to the Dickey Betts band. A guy next to me jostled me while getting a few drinks for his friends. He turned around and apologized and seemed to think I should know who he was. I was, as always, oblivious (also drunk). Then he asked me if I knew who he was. I didn't. Then he insisted on buying me a drink. Ok, he did. Then, like Mandy Potankin, I asked him, "Who are joooo?" I never found out. Get used to disappointment.
Maybe he was Hillary? With a five o'clock shadow. Thanks for the drink Hil.
This is such an odd story.
Why go into a fast food joint to eat if you're not going to talk to the people? Have your handlers go in and get you something. Or go through the drive thru.
What the hell is the point of actually going into the restaurant, sitting down, and eating your burrito, if you're trying to be incognito?
It makes sense if you're running for President and you want to press the flesh. Hell, you could at least talk to the workers (Who claim not to have recognized her) and tried to chat them up.
But to go in like a celebrity and just ignore everyone and then leave?
So freaking weird.
The only thing I can think of is, it's all staged. She isn't really running for President at all. She is just raising money. And she has to put on this show to make people believe it's all real.
Nobody recognized her Secret Service detail either...
...they were also wearing sunglasses.
Blogger Mark said...
As yet another aside, can you imagine how much fun a young Hunter S. Thompson would have following Hillary's entourage on this road trip
old Rolling Stone: articles that sound made-up, but aren't.
new Rolling Stone: articles that sound made-up, and are.
"It makes sense if you're running for President and you want to press the flesh. Hell, you could at least talk to the workers (Who claim not to have recognized her) and tried to chat them up."
It's possible she doesn't really want to do what it takes to win. She'd like to be president, sure, but she doesn't much like the flesh-pressing 24 hour campaign stuff. And perhaps she's only really doing this because her controlling douchebag attention whore of a husband is forcing her to, because he can't stand the idea of not being the center of attention and the relative anonymity of being just an ex-president (rather than "First Sex Offender" and back in the White House) is unbearable for him.
Hillary should really just go tell him to get stuffed, as she's humiliated herself enough for him over the years and doesn't need to spend her retirement years going through this. It'd at least begin to win over some of us.
Is Chipotle one of those places where the server warns you about the hot plates, and then the server puts the food down in front of the wrong people, and then your dining companions forget about the warning, and they start switching plates, and it's true that the plates are hot, but they're not all that hot, just kind of hot, and nothing terrible happens, except that your dining companions look kind of dumb because they forgot so quickly about the warning about the hot plates?
Because if so, I think I might have eaten there.
I've been in Ohio for decades because I never want to see a celebrity.
I remember riding the NY subway on a weekend in, like, 1974, and looking into the eyes of a somewhat older woman, with two late teens who I knew were her kids. I KNEW them all, what their voices sounded like but couldn't figure out how I knew them, since I grew up and went to school out west. She looked at me with kind of a sad, resigned look. Even though I had this strong feeling that knew them intimately, something in her look or my uncertainty kept me from trying to talk to them.
Later, at home I figured it out: it was Pat Loud and two of her younger kids.
Lincoln was murdered 150 years ago today, and 155 years ago the Pony Express began operations... Guess which one is featured on Google's sign in page.
The Pony Express commemorative on Google's homepage is actually a little game. The object is to pickup letters and avoid rocks, cactus, and other hazards as you ride your pony from California to Missouri. The hazards don't include Indians, natch.
Google's Board of Directors was offered a mini-FPS as a alternative. It featured a derringer-wielding hand in the foreground and a dancing, leaping, somersaulting Lincoln target. The object was to hit the Lincoln with your one bullet before the roving darkie clobbered you with his sack of cotton. Chairman Eric Schmidt rejected the project on grounds that it promoted the career of a Republican president.
Amy Otto (@AmyOtto8) said...
I like how Hillary has to be taken on a tour of America to acquaint herself with its habits and culture.
It's she came down from the Enterprise, I responded.
I read somewhere that if it had been Bill in that restaurant he would have ended up serving food and would somehow of known 1/3 of the customers.
Bill Clinton is good at retail politics, also known as kissing the voters' a**. He seems to like interacting with people. He is a natural extrovert who draws energy from being with other people.
Hillary just seems irritated. Like she has something important to do, but has to deal with you first.
Astute observations, there.
But if you were married to Bill Clinton you would probably always look irritated too.
Knowing Clintonism, besides this being a case of no one recognizing (or caring) that it was Hillary!, with the security camera footage surfacing, I suspect that this might have been a staged event by the campaign that blew up in their faces.
I remember when Bill and Hillary were "caught" dancing on some "hidden" beach by photographers.
At the time, they wanted people to see how much in love they are. Here, they would like Hillary! very much to come across as a regular person. They wanted the optic to say, "look at Hillary being just like you," knowing that there was the camera footage and that people would talk about it.
Planned or not, like most things Hillary!, it was an epic fail.
"It's she came down from the Enterprise, I responded."
I am not liking the Dr. Evil meets Star Trek couture.
There seems to be a certain amount of risk in this. She's just as likely to meet a Joe the Plumber as a worshipful fan. I get the sense that her life doesn't have a lot of unscripted moments so give her credit for working without a net -- albeit from a low height.......What if some young girl squirts gobs of mayonnaise all over her dress and walks up to shake her hand. Be tough to handle a situation like that with grace and poise.
From the Daily Mail...
'When the reporters started to call, (said the Chipotle Manager) I went back to the security footage, and there she was,'
"Security footage of Hillary"... let that sink in.
@Cracker/Laslo/Mark P.
Okay, this has just got to stop! I can't even sit with you clowns at the diner & enjoy my waffle without you asswipes getting into an argument over the most trivial things. I mean, can I take you guys ANYWHERE?
There was, as a Laslo claims, a fight with a skeleton warrior in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. It's not as famous as the incredible battle with the skeleton army in Jason & the Argonauts, but, by gumbers, there is a fighting skeleton.
And, if you guys would ever stick your noses in a book, and actually learn SOMETHING, you'd all know that there's really important archaeological work being done on the history of skeleton people.
Dear God, why has this not been linked yet
SNL Bill Clinton at McDonald's
"John Lennon liked living in New York City because it was possible there for him to be a normal person."
Evidently, he was wrong about that.
Ohioans: Frankly, we don't give a damn.
I was walking through Central Park in mid-80’s and stopped to watch some really attractive women playing softball. After a while, I realized everybody on both teams, men and women, were exceptionally beautiful. A fellow spectator, who was also enjoying the sight, told me that it was a soap opera celebrity softball game. I had no idea who any of them were, but they made a mighty fine sight for spectating.
"Chipotle" is a word that even people serve them and work at a place called that can't pronounce.
At DCA and areas around DC, you of course run into high-level politicians all the time either flying or shopping or dining. It ain't a big thing.
I remember when a friend was all excited that she had this personal meeting with a senior senator. My response was, "yawn." Later, the celebrity of it all wore off for her, but at the time she was quite displeased with me.
All I can say is I would not have wanted to be on that bus after everybody ate at Chipotle. Hope it has good ventilation!
Back in April of 2010, I shared an elevator in the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago with Annie Leibovitz. I was there for a work conference, and as I walked onto the lobby elevator for the ride up to the conference room, she was on there (coming up from the parking garage, I think). We both headed up, and she got off a floor below me. I had just enough time to say out loud "Was that Annie Leibovitz?" to myself before I got to my floor. She had a younger man with her, thirty-ish I guess (I was 24), and a bunch of stackable hard case luggage containers on wheels. He wheeled those out, and she followed him out holding her purse.
If not for my mother being a huge fan of her work, she would have gone totally unrecognized. As it was, I didn't (and still don't) know enough about her to feel like striking up a chat.
There was, as a Laslo claims, a fight with a skeleton warrior in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. It's not as famous as the incredible battle with the skeleton army in Jason & the Argonauts, but, by gumbers, there is a fighting skeleton.
My sons love these movies, and if you have children or grandchildren who do too, might I recommend these? Many epic battles have played out across the dining and living rooms.
I sat next to Dick Cheney on a flight once, after he'd been SecDef and before he was VP (so during the Clinton presidency).
I did not speak to him even though it was just us in the first row of first class. The man liked his scotch, I will say that.
@Jake
I'm surprised this hasn't been posted before.
Very, very, very NSFW.
http://southpark.cc.com/clips/251865/billy-mays-here
What did she order? How did she pay for it? Did she sit at a table and eat it or did she take it with her?
I'm pretty sure all the press releases for the entire trip have been written. That way only a slight edit is needed before firing them off in a timely manner.
Because of security, she would have to initiate a conversation or an approach. I mean, what did she do. If all she did was get in line and get her food, then no one is going to approach during that act. She would have to be standing amongst the tables to actually talk to people.
"Is Chipotle one of those places where the server warns you about the hot plates, and then the server puts the food down in front of the wrong people, and then your dining companions forget about the warning, and they start switching plates, and it's true that the plates are hot, but they're not all that hot, just kind of hot, and nothing terrible happens, except that your dining companions look kind of dumb because they forgot so quickly about the warning about the hot plates?"
No, Chipotle is that place where you get a week's worth of food wrapped in a tortilla that tastes good when you eat it but makes your stomach feel like lead for the next hour until you have to hit the bathroom hard.
I'd prefer if they came up with "half size" burritos which would be easier to eat and not leave you so bloated. But then, I'm a worrier. That's why my friends call me Whiskers.
Then there was that time during the Marv Albert trial that I stepped into the courthouse elevator to find Court TV's Chris Gordon there.
Recognizing him, the only thing I said was, "Come on, they sent you? Where's Mary Jane Stevenson?" He understood my disappointment.
Remember when Obama decided to go visit the Unpeople of Flyover Jesusland? He bombed around corn country in a fleet of giant, black tour buses that were made in Canada. Nobody knows how to road-trip through the midwest like the Democrats.
My uncle was a TV reporter for many years in a large NE city, covering city hall and politics. When they went out to eat, they sat in a corner with his back facing the room.
My brother works on film crews, and his boss on a couple of Oscar-nominated films is married to a woman who won the Best Actress Oscar one year. He's been out to eat with the family a number of times and the drill is similar to my uncle's. They get a table in the corner, and she comes in from the car quickly -wearing sunglasses and a scarf- and sits with her back to the room.
When Obama and Hillary are brought to the ICJ on charges I'll be a happy clam.
"Have your handlers go in and get you something. Or go through the drive thru. "
If it's good enough for Nancy Snyderman it's good enough for Hillary !
At least nobody got Ebola, that we know of.
AJ Lynch nailed it with the first post of the thread.
Regarding the sunglasses, though: I don't know about the rest of them, but it's about 20 ft from the front door to the counter at the Chipotle near my office. Their whole schtick is to get you in and out even when it's busy. Looks like she showed up during a down time so she would be back out the door in less than 5 minutes. Why bother taking off your glasses?
Recently, I had an impromptu conversation with Juan Williams at a local Deli. He seemed genuinely surprised someone recognized him. We mostly talked about him working at Fox News now. Although I just briefly mentioned his time at NPR in passing, he quickly wanted to move on. I think that episode really hurt him, personally more than professionally.
Hillary's just following her internal polls which tell her that the more the public sees her, the less they like her. Hillary's plan is win by 2016 incognito.
@Freeman,
My sons love these movies,
And, as you can tell from this forum, don't be surprised if they never, ever, grow out of that love.
Mrs. Clinton may be in need of some Chipoltaway.
Althouse wrote: I once sat in a restaurant next to John Lennon and Yoko Ono…
Something similar happened to me. I was sitting in Umberto’s Clam House and was just about to dig into my isalata di scungilli when John and Yoko walked in. They instantly recognized me. Oh, shit, I thought.
John was totally cool, as usual, but Yoko wasn’t, also as usual. She scamper over to my table babbling incoherently about yet another of her inane “conceptual art” projects. This time it was about eating out and VIOLENCE (she yodeled the word at the top of her lungs, hence the caps)
“Eating out and violence are so typically American,” said Yoko as she attempted to sit down in the booth with me. “Every American loves to eat food in restaurants that most people on Planet Earth couldn’t afford if they saved for years. And American’s also love to kill people. Mostly with guns. Except when they use ‘tomic bombs on babies. Did you realize Paul Tibbets eats in restaurants?”
I stared blankly at the buttery yellow diamond-tufted upholstery of the opposite seat in my booth, trying to avoid eye contact. Never make eye contact with Yoko Ono, I reminded myself.
Yoko attempted to sit down, but John caught her by the collar of her ubiquitous black turtleneck, thus arresting her progress. She struggled forward nevertheless, stretching the material to the point of ripping and outlining her saggy boobs, an unappetizing image when eating shellfish. “Let go, John,” she yelped, “I wanna tell Quaestor about my latest…”
“Project, yes…” said John, sotto voce, as he gained a controlling grip on his agitated wife’s forearms. I slipped on my dark glasses with one hand, never relinquishing my grip on the fork in the other.
“Anyway, what we’re doing is we’re eating in restaurants where people got murdered. We went to Jack Dempsey’s last night, that’s where Michael Corleone rendezvoused with Sallozzo the Turk…”, said Yoko in a high-speed voice like a TV pitchman selling a glow-in-the-dark-all-purpose spatula
“That was a movie, Yoko,” I said, my attention still riveted on the yet uneaten salad poised beneath my hovering fork.
“And the gunplay didn’t happen there,” said John with an exasperated eye-roll. “Come on, Yoko, Luigi’s ready for us. Let the man eat his whelk.”
“I wanna sit in Joey Gallo’s booth,” Yoko whined as Lennon dragged her bodily toward their waiting table, her boot heels leaving parallel tracks in the carpet.
“Cazy Joe didn’t sit there, love,” said John in his singsong scouce. And I returned to the business at hand.
It was an ironic meeting given the tragedy inflicted by the madman Chapman just a few days hence. I often wonder if Umberto’s frutti de mare was the last restaurant meal enjoyed by John Lennon, and I also often wonder if I had been more indulgent of Yoko’s fatuousness, if that might have changed anything.
I think Packerbronco might be onto something here. I have the feeling that Hillary! would love to run a media-only campaign, much like her New York Life-like commercial announcement. If she never appears anywhere and never debates then there'll be none of those pesky questions to answer!
We (and she) know that the MSM will cover for her so long as no other Dem enters the race. It's conceivable she could make it to the DNC without encountering a bump in her coronation by staying out of public view except for the occasional fake fast meal.
Then it's just a matter of going offensive against the misogynist hateful racist GOP for even suggesting that she debate, or answer questions etc. Want a sample?
"They still think this is the 1950s where men could boss womyn around with impunity. These old white guys aren't going to tell ME what to do!"
"Why should I subject myself to name-calling and tiresome VRWC assertions? I'm running for president not Grand Kleagle!"
"Chipotle" is a word that even people serve them and work at a place called that can't pronounce
People in the great state of Colorado where Chipotle was founded darn well know how to pronounce it. We just feel sorry for you bland midwesterners who are just figuring out the whole burrito thing.
Just saw a picture of the Scooby van Hillary is traveling in. It looks like a black hearse.
“We just feel sorry for you bland midwesterners who are just figuring out the whole burrito thing.”
In Texas, we feel sorry for people who mistake burritos for Mexican food.
THEATER ENTRANCE
Puppet Show
Hillary Clinton
We just feel sorry for you bland midwesterners who are just figuring out the whole burrito thing.
I don't see why you should. We have deep-fried cheese curds. You have Rocky Mt Oysters.
This would never happen in Wapakoneta.
"People in the great state of Colorado where Chipotle was founded darn well know how to pronounce it. "
Can you pronounce FUCK OFF? ; )
Maybe she'll stop at a Chik-fil-A next time.
In 1972 I was a long hair hippie in a black tee-shirt and levi's eating a burger at a roadside diner.
The Mayor came in with some other guy. I recognized him. He looked at me, and I looked at him and gave him a nod. He nodded back, and sat at the swivel seat next to me.
That's how it's done in the country. We vote for people who have good manners, over anything else.
"No, Chipotle is that place where you get a week's worth of food wrapped in a tortilla that tastes good when you eat it but makes your stomach feel like lead for the next hour until you have to hit the bathroom hard."
That's why you go bowl, my friend. Flour tortillas are for suckers.
@ Mark 12:55:
Well played, sir. Well played.
Perhaps Hillary! can get permission from Nigel Tuffnel to use Lick My Love Pump as the campaign's theme music. I pretty sure Bill would be down with it.
Normally, it would strike us as odd that a 70-year old married woman would undertake a motor trip of a section of the USA without her husband.
But when you're a MINO, that's how you roll.
Moreover, she was accompanied by her de facto spouse. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Probably didn't even leave a tip, used her own server.
285exp said... [hush][hide comment]
Probably didn't even leave a tip, used her own server.
4/14/15, 1:32 PM
Heh!
The main reason I believe that at least the servers didn't recognize her is they didn't buzz about it to the manager after she left.
Having lived in LA and London, I've seen a bazillion celebrity drop-bys. And if it's somewhere that doesn't usually get a celebrity, when the celebrity leaves there's a lot of, "Did you see who that was?" even if they played it cool in the presence.
That's what I do, actually. Except for the few times I've said something.
Oh, and I almost forgot:
Don't you think she looks tired?
"Only two types of people wear sunglasses indoors. Blind folks and assholes."
What about the people with really bad vision who forgot their regular prescription glasses at home?
If I was a reporter, I would behave as though my job was to expose the narrative the candidate is trying to spin.
Is Hillary really really traveling cross-country by bus? Or is she just sending an entourage on a bus trip which she occasionally joins to keep up the appearances?
Where do the bus people usually eat? Do they eat at fast food joints near the highway like most American travelers?
Do they use rest stop bathrooms like most American travelers?
Terry said...
If I was a reporter, I would behave as though my job was to expose the narrative the candidate is trying to spin.
4/14/15, 2:09 PM
If I was a blogger, I would behave as though my job was to expose the narrative the candidate is trying to spin.
There, fixed it for you. There are no more reporters. There are only professional journalists. Real reporters have pretty much gone extinct. It seems that only bloggers do the kind of investigative reporting of which you refer.
Wait a minute! Where was her Secret Service detail? I didn't see them in the clip. Did she make them go without dinner?
I refuse to make fun of an elderly woman who has suffered a severe brain injury.
It is hard to imagine Bill in the same position refusing to shoot the shit with the customers. He couldn't help himself. He would probably have had the life histories of half the customers ( and arranged dates with the better looking females).
What's Hillary going to do when she gets to Podunk, IA and the only place to eat is the local "family restaurant" where you are considered rude if you don't pass the time of day with the waitress and nod to the other customers?
Bill Clinton would have had the sultry looking teenage girl's phone numbers before the order was finished. That man understands that targeting also requires logistics and tactics.
Hillary would just stamp her big cankled foot and demand Mrs Weiner make it all better right now. Huma would then sneak back in and get the teenage girls numbers for her.
The New York times rates her lunch as "above average", thus demonstrating her qualification for the presidency.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/15/upshot/hillary-clintons-chipotle-order-above-average.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1
This would never happen in Wapakoneta
Hillary would never to to a Chipotle in Wapak, or if she did, they would recognize her?
If the latter, why should they care about her? They had the first man to walk on the moon. Most everyone else next to him is a putz.
You had the next best opportunity to killing Hitler and you let Yoko slip from your fingers?!
Drudge says Hillary showed up at a Community College to "meet everyday Iowans" and the students were locked down in their classrooms.
I think the woman is clueless.
mikesixes,
Thanks for the link. It was hilarious. I was glad to see that most of the few people who commented had their heads on straight.
Next, what was the calorie count and what was in Obama's waffle that he was so intent on eating.
@BigMike, I'm inclined to agree.
You cannot sleepwalk your way to an annointing if you're a candidate for a nomination.
The New York times rates her lunch as "above average", thus demonstrating her qualification for the presidency.
LOL Not only did they rate it "above average," but they didn't know what she got for lunch, so they guessed, and then rated their guess as "above average."
I think that link could stand for a long time as the most non-story presidential campaign story.
God, this woman is lame and unimaginative and boring.
My wife and I once stepped onto an elevator with President Carter and Hank Aaron and his wife. We introduced ourselves to Aaron and wife and had a pleasant conversation up the three or four floors of our ride together. We did not want to make Carter feel uneasy for being famous so we pretended not to recognize him.
Maybe the people in Chipotle weren't "everyday Americans". Maybe they were only every other day Americans. Or only on Sunday Americans. So Hillary didn't want their votes.
The fact that she passed on barbacoa for chicken makes me severely question her judgment.
In 2012 polling Romney bested Obama or was competitive in every important metric but one -- "cares about people like me." Obama beat him there, hands down. Team Hillary surely knows this. For the next 18 months Hillary will work very hard to give the appearance of someone "who cares about people like me."
The account I read said she was in the Chipotle for 45 minutes. How do you eat anything on the menu for 45 minutes at a Chipotle? Couldn't you eat everything on the menu in under 45 minutes?
I see that now Hillary is talking about a constitutional amendment to "reform" free speech in the wake of the Citizens United decision.
Call her on it. Tell her that we want a constitutional convention. That ought to be fun. Bill can explain article 5 to her if she doesn't know what could happen with a constitutional convention dominated by conservative state legislatures.
Heh. Now I know something-something about the motor route she chose, and, boy, does that make sense.
LOL.
Signed,
One who has, quite literally, scores of times traveled between the Midwest and East via road trips along various routes.
After winning a hunnerd bucks playin; nine ball at Cochrans pool hall in the Tenderloin, I was jumped by four creeps from the Metadone clinic. Brian Fuckin' Williams came from the shadows and saved my ass.
He will verify.
One new "game changer" in fast food is the self-service touch screen soda fountains--the ones that have like 50 types of drinks (from cherry-vanilla Mr. Pibb to Lime Fanta) so you can go back and sample each one. A pet peeve of mine is where you have to go back in line to get a refill (as often happens when your drink has mostly ice in the first place). Sometimes I'll pick a fast food place solely on whether it has one of the touch screen fountains (like the Five Guys near me).
The next 8 months before primaries begin will be telling--if Hillary makes some big gaffes, falls flat on the trail, or has any new scandals emerge, as well as taking hits by the GOP candidates (who hopefully won't overplay their hands, as they often do), we may see her poll numbers drop like a stone. The Democrats may rue the day they decided on a coronation, as well they should.
I wonder what Obama and his team are thinking here--surely they're not thrilled at Hillary being his successor (they're smart enough to know that even if she wins, she'll spend much of her term trashing her predecessor, as is the Clinton Way) but they really don't have any obvious alternative. Biden is too clunky, and O'Malley might have benefitted from some shadow support but he doesn't seem willing to face the machine.
Perhaps on some level Obama would prefer being followed by a Republican? A Republican successor would have to fix the ACA (total repeal simply isn't going to happen) and inherit the foreign policy minefields that are easier to criticize from outside than to navigate from inside. And another recession (we're due for one, as it will have been eight years since 2009 when the next Prez takes office) can be (unfairly, but effectively) blamed on the GOP.
As I write this, I'm thinking maybe that's what Obama wants all along--for Hillary to crash in the general, and leave the GOP with the burdens.
Brando said...
As I write this, I'm thinking maybe that's what Obama wants all along--for Hillary to crash in the general, and leave the GOP with the burdens.
4/15/15, 6:59 AM
There is some "appeal" to that position but there is also the issue (which Obama would be UNABLE to stand) that the GOP takes over and actually is able to fix much of what he and his administration has screwed up. Think Carter followed by Reagan. It took a LONG time for the dems to recover from that and Reagan was able to lay the foundation for much success.
An important consideration is, even though Obama hates working as President, he is ever so in love with the idea of BEING the President. He thinks he is fantastic at BEING President and I doubt very much that we wants whomever is next to be someone that can upstage him as far as making things actually work. He is a coaster and has coasted through everything else he has ever done all the while having accolades heaped upon him. This is really the first time he has had to deliver and who ever follows him can very much show how ineffective and destructive he has been, which he will not want.
"There is some "appeal" to that position but there is also the issue (which Obama would be UNABLE to stand) that the GOP takes over and actually is able to fix much of what he and his administration has screwed up."
The only problem with that is it would mean that Obama thinks these are problems he couldn't fix that a Republican could--does Obama have that level of humility, or respect for the GOP? He likely thinks the GOP is all talk about fixing these messes and would like to see them fall flat on their faces. After all, if Obama couldn't fix them, then no mortal man could.
Plus, being succeeded by a Republican makes it easier for Obama to retain the adulation of Democrats, rather than have another Democratic president to split the "glory."
Ann's take on this event is that Hillary simply did not want to be recognized; leave her alone.
Ann’s mistake is that her “take” is like watching the rushes of a movie in the making; the focus is what’s on the screen. What’s really going on is that Hillary’s making a movie. Let’s pull back from the camera and look at the movie set.
A movie set consist of (among others) cameramen, lighting specialists, groups of extras, props, the director, script writers, wranglers and the actors. It’s a village. And that’s what a presidential campaign is. When we look at the pictures of the candidate we’re looking at the actor in front of the camera. And the actor isn’t playing to the crew around him but to the audience watching the movie.
Hillary’s getting kidded for being ignored by the people in the restaurant. People are asking why it took her 45 minutes to eat and why she wasn't glad-handing the servers and patrons.
Think about this for a minute. Clinton and her staffers drive cross country and stop to eat and NONE of them make an effort to interact with the locals? That is damn weird - as if they felt uncomfortable amongst the locals.
And if that is the case, why did they even do the cross country drive if they are going to avoid people?
But that’s not the reason for the stop. The reason for the stop is to get media coverage for stopping to eat at a popular middle-class restaurant. It says to the people watching the news: “she’s just like us.” The restaurant is the set. Her van is a prop. The patrons are extras. Her campaign manager is the director. Hillary's the star. The crew making the movie include the press. They are the cameramen, the assistant script writers, and the publicity department.
Even the story that no-one recognized her works for the Hillary movie. Because there is only so much time in the day and the focus on Hillary means that her opponents get ignored while the cameras are focused on Hillary.
The next set after Chipotle was the auto shop of a junior college where The Star delivered her lines to the extras chosen from the students.
Watching the daily rushes misses the point of what's really going on. We are watching a movie being made: "Hillary Saves the World."
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