Raleigh, NC
I’ve had good days and bad days. I’ve had days where I accomplished a lot and others where I was lazy. Today was a mix of all 4. I will say it was long but prosperous.
Monday came with goodbyes from my Dad and my Mom taking me to the airport. We had breakfast together and then at 11:50 I was on my way to DC. I had a layover there and was, I say was, slated to be in Raleigh at 3:10 PM. I was to get off the plane, get my bags, and head out to a 4:30 interview with Bill Riddick, the owner of an IT company in town.
It didn’t exactly go down like that. In one of the stranger things I’ve had happen during my years of traveling, we all loaded onto the shuttle bus to head to the plane. It was raining and no one was too fired up because we had to walk outside onto one of the mini-jets. Sitting across from me in the bus is someone I recognized, but could not place. As we sat and then drove, I heard her on her cell phone. I then put her voice and face together: It was Elizabeth Dole. She is one of the two Senator’s from Raleigh. She was going where I was. Or at least we thought.
As we drove out to our plane, we parked and the driver got out. He threw his hood over his head and jutted up the steps and knocked on the plane door. No answer. He knocked again. Nothing. He ran back into the bus and got on the radio. I’m sure he felt all of our stares and a little bit of our laughter. We smiled and made jokes, but then the joke was on us. He turned the bus around. We were at the wrong plane. He was taking us to the right one. Wrong. We passed all of the planes and made it all the way back to the terminal. What was this? Talk about a tease.
We got out and waited upstairs. The crew was still not in DC. They were coming in from Pittsburgh shortly. I called Bill Riddick and left him a voice mail telling him I’d be late.
All while this is happening, my mind was turning. “You know who would be a great interview for your project? Yeah, Mrs. Dole.” I thought and rethought. I did not want to bother her. At one point, back in the terminal, I heard her on her phone asking her office who had caused this such and such a thing. She wasn’t happy. I guess you could say I was stalking a little bit. But I’m glad I didn’t ask her before she made that call.
At about 4:00 I viewed Mrs. Dole from across the terminal and told myself, “You’ll kick yourself if you don’t ask her.” So, I went in.
“Hi, I’m Andrew Harrison.”
“Hello, nice to meet you,” she said as we shook hands.
“I, uh,” I said so eloquently, “am on a journey and think you would be a great person to interview,” I said very quickly.
She handled it well, “Well, what are you looking for?”
And I went into my story and what I was doing. She explained about some legislation she was trying to pass and a lot of travel and elections and things. But in the end, she told me to contact someone from her office and see what we could do. Sweet!!! I was pumped. We talked for a second and I was off to make the call.
I called and I felt like I got punked after meeting a girl I was excited about, “We’re sorry, the number you’ve dialed is not a working number.” What?
What do I do know. Do I go back over and ask her for her digits again? That would be uncomfortable. I was a bit down, but I knew I could get the person’s number somehow. So, I sat back and was glad I made the move, even if she did shoot me down a bit.
I’m rambling. We ended up on the plane. It’s 4:20, I’ve missed my interview. “We need 5 volunteers…” My hand was up first. Bam, I’m off the plane. I got off the plane, received my voucher for a free ticket, worked in a free meal, and then flew from DC to Norfolk, VA and finally to Raleigh. Bob, my friend where I’m staying, picked me up at 8:30 (thanks) and here I am. After talking with Bob’s wife, we decided the number Mrs. Dole gave me was in DC, not Raleigh. I called Raleigh. She had given me the 7 digit number, no area code. It kind of felt like a Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm thing: Should I go back? No. You’ll ruin it. Go back, you need the number.
It was a long but prosperous day. I flew around for a while, met Elizabeth Dole, and got a free ticket. Not bad. And I’m interviewing Bill Riddick tomorrow at 8:30 AM.
Night.