By Request: Secret Service Man

 

Run In Number One:

I was in college and between classes with a couple hours to spare. Per my habit, I decided to walk down to the Memorial Union building which houses a campus food service area with large areas full of tables where I could get something to drink while hitting the books until my next class. As I got close, I saw a guy a few feet in front of me standing and looking right at me as I approached. Thinking nothing of it and assuming he was looking beyond me, I swerved a bit to my right only to have him swerve and step right in front of me. My attention caught, I looked up with a WTH look in my face. That is when he asked me what my business was in the Memorial Union today. I told him I was going to get something to drink and do some studying. He said no I wasn't and told me to leave. It was only then that I noticed the sunglasses and especially the ear peace hooked up to his ear. It was then that I remembered the campus newspaper from the day before saying President Clinton was stopping by our campus for a speech of some sort.

Run In Number Two:

I happened to be doing some dishes when I saw a black SUV pull up in front of our house and a man step out. The SUV proceeded on down the dead end road and out of sight. I watched the man for a minute and he seemed to just be looking around. A car pulled up and he bent over to talk to the occupants and then the car turned and went down the hill the other direction. The man still stood there. I thought perhaps he was lost and asking for directions from the previous car driver but they hadn't known and proceeded on. Being a good neighbor, I walked out my door and across the lawn to where the guy was standing and asked if I could help him. He said that the dead end road (from just beyond my driveway) was closed due to an important official meeting being held and he apologized for any inconvenience. I told him it was no inconvenience to me at all and bade him a good day. It was at that point, that I noticed he too had the earmarks of a secret service agent but didn't have the glasses and if he had some sort of communication device, it wasn't obvious. The next day in the daily newspaper, I read the article where the neighbor a few doors down from my house hosted presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for a meet and greet with local Democratic party big wigs. 

Technical Run In Number Three:

I don't really count this as a secret service run in but at my previous house, presidential candidate Obama, whom recently was granted secret service protection, was coming to our fair town for a rally. My parents and I hiked the few blocks to the rally site and positioned our camp chairs along a rope barrier we though just separating us from the stage. As it turned out, it was a roped off walkway for candidate Obama to walk to the stage from his tour bus. As he came down the walkway, he started shaking hands and so we stood up to shake the man's hand. As he approached, a few feet in front of him were a couple secret service agents eyeing those Obama was approaching, looking for I presume threats. They went on by and Obama shook our hands. After his entourage passed, everyone sat down again and that was when I noticed a ballpoint pen about a foot inside the roped off area. I crouched down and picked it up. I don't remember what exactly it said on the pen if anything but I do know it didn't have any presidential seals or words saying that it might have belonged to the president or staff. I was pretty sure it hadn't been there before he passed by though.  I'm pretty sure I kept if just the same for awhile but either I've forgotten what it looked like or it has since been purged of ink and thrown out.