Jogging Update: Update
So I called up U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd's DC office this afternoon, to see if that was actually him I saw out in front of the Dunes Club yesterday when I was jogging. The lovely young lady who answered the phone said, "I don't know, I'll go check" in a "the rest of the office is NOT going to believe this" tone that I recognized from when I've answered the phone on campaigns. (You don't have to be a dick to work in politics, but it helps.) Anyway, her response was, "I can't confirm that," the rough equivalent of, "who did you say you knew in the office again?" Bitch. You know what I love doing to people like that? Getting the last laugh.
I figured starting off with "This is probably a weird question" was probably a mistake, so I didn't use the same opening when I then called Dodd's Connecticut office. The people there were much more helpful, not surprisingly, and the guy who wound up taking my call didn't scoff when I related my admittedly uncommon concern. In fact, after he put me on hold to go check, he said, "Senator Dodd was indeed in Rhode Island yesterday. He played in a charity golf tournament."
That's confirmation enough for me, but when I related this story to some of my less politically intrigued coworkers, one of them mentioned yesterday's Steven Follett Memorial Golf Tournament before remarking that former Rhode Island Gov. Joe Garrahy goes to the Dunes Club a lot too. Sounded extraneous at the time, but I can tell you that Steve Follett was my year at South Kingstown High School, one town over from Narragansett, so the chances that Senator Dodd was playing golf around here yesterday are pretty good. And I also happen to know that Senator Dodd's sister is a Dunes Club member, so if he was in the area, no doubt he would have visited, especially since, as mentioned, the beach is awesome. So I conclude that I saw Christopher Dodd at the beach yesterday. Think this'll show up in The Note? (Also, the water was 63 degrees: now that's a real man.)
So, what's weirder here?
- I was jogging down the beach when I saw a guy enjoying the ocean surf, and my first thought was, "that guy looks like U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT);"
- I actually called around to find out if it was him;
- I was right.
And two lessons:
1. Jiminy H. Cricket, how hard is this to understand: don't give up easy.
2. DC offices are filled with assholes; local offices want to help you. Fight the power.