Governator
It was a normal Monday workday. I fought the alarm clock and the stupid shower doors that someone that was a good idea, really what is wrong with shower curtains? And then fought with my hair and finally out the door with my small pile of stuffs for a day of productivity: donations to the office kitchen of previously read issues of Shape magazine, bag o’ baby carrots for snacking, gym bag that only gets a workout traveling from apartment to car to office back to car to complete the cycle again and envelopes addressed for bills to be mailed to some mysterious place called City of Industry, California where the industry is apparently high interest rates.
Arrive at work and follow normal routine, turn on computer, grab mug and water bottle, head to kitchen to make tea and to the weird office supply, printer/fax room that also houses water cooler. And it wasn’t a metaphor when standing around the water cooler I heard, “Did you hear who’s going to be hear today?”
“Who?” I mumble in response.
“The Governator,” she exclaimed
In my short time as a resident of The Golden State, I’ve learned that it’s standard practice, regardless if you’re Red or Blue, to yes, refer to the 38th governor of Cal-ee-forn-ya, Arnold Schwarzenegger as “The Governator” or if you’re on friendly terms, ‘da gov’nuh’.
The official email was sent out at 11 am announcing the event, with location, outside on the grassy knoll by Building D at 2-2:15 pm and that he would be taking questions. One of my mom’s favorite expressions when anything was about to go down was, “I’m going to pop some popcorn and watch the show.” And that’s just what I was planning to do.
Like any good employee-owning sheep I headed down per the email at 2:17 only to have to wait in line in the sun. Had I known I wouldn’t have worn a long sleeved black shirt and my two inch Steve Madden boots but fashion and politics make nice bedfellows.
While waiting in line I noticed protesters on the sidewalk. Not many and with my with my poor eyesight (even with contacts) I could only make out the “Protect” part of the signs. There wasn’t any chatting and the local sheriff’s department wasn’t in riot gear so it was safe to assume they weren’t the opening act.
After over an hour of waiting finally he arrived. But we had no idea why he was addressing a group of employees from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). I guessed he’s a Republican; it’s a DoD contractor and while I still think that’s a valid hypothesis, SAIC actually gets very little CA state contracts. They can’t afford us.
Governor Schwarzenegger arrived corporate caz, slacks and a tie-less, button down and successfully managed to work in the word ‘California’ over 15 times in the first ten minutes of his speech but thankfully it wasn’t translated to an applause button at a pep rally like the way President Bush works in “stomp out terrorism” as often possible getting any crowd to go wild.
There were high tech presentations with graphs and charts behind him about revenue and spending and a lot of finger pointing to the ‘politicians in Sacramento’. Governor Schwarzenegger had four reform issues he was campaigning and conveniently people were standing by with petitions to be signed.
What did impress me is that he actually said the phrases, “This is my opinion” and “This is what I think”. I either didn’t agree or he hadn’t even made an articulate declarative statement but it was refreshing to hear nonetheless.
He took questions from the audience or rather I should say he asked, “Would you like to see me tap dance? Heel, toe, shift, ball, change and I really respect and admire teachers and nurses, and what you’re a grave digger, well thank you too!” When fielding a question about a lack of funding for community colleges he touted his support by saying he learned English at Santa Monica Community College and then he let us in a little secret, that back in Austria, he had really wanted to be a salesmen.
Arrive at work and follow normal routine, turn on computer, grab mug and water bottle, head to kitchen to make tea and to the weird office supply, printer/fax room that also houses water cooler. And it wasn’t a metaphor when standing around the water cooler I heard, “Did you hear who’s going to be hear today?”
“Who?” I mumble in response.
“The Governator,” she exclaimed
In my short time as a resident of The Golden State, I’ve learned that it’s standard practice, regardless if you’re Red or Blue, to yes, refer to the 38th governor of Cal-ee-forn-ya, Arnold Schwarzenegger as “The Governator” or if you’re on friendly terms, ‘da gov’nuh’.
The official email was sent out at 11 am announcing the event, with location, outside on the grassy knoll by Building D at 2-2:15 pm and that he would be taking questions. One of my mom’s favorite expressions when anything was about to go down was, “I’m going to pop some popcorn and watch the show.” And that’s just what I was planning to do.
Like any good employee-owning sheep I headed down per the email at 2:17 only to have to wait in line in the sun. Had I known I wouldn’t have worn a long sleeved black shirt and my two inch Steve Madden boots but fashion and politics make nice bedfellows.
While waiting in line I noticed protesters on the sidewalk. Not many and with my with my poor eyesight (even with contacts) I could only make out the “Protect” part of the signs. There wasn’t any chatting and the local sheriff’s department wasn’t in riot gear so it was safe to assume they weren’t the opening act.
After over an hour of waiting finally he arrived. But we had no idea why he was addressing a group of employees from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). I guessed he’s a Republican; it’s a DoD contractor and while I still think that’s a valid hypothesis, SAIC actually gets very little CA state contracts. They can’t afford us.
Governor Schwarzenegger arrived corporate caz, slacks and a tie-less, button down and successfully managed to work in the word ‘California’ over 15 times in the first ten minutes of his speech but thankfully it wasn’t translated to an applause button at a pep rally like the way President Bush works in “stomp out terrorism” as often possible getting any crowd to go wild.
There were high tech presentations with graphs and charts behind him about revenue and spending and a lot of finger pointing to the ‘politicians in Sacramento’. Governor Schwarzenegger had four reform issues he was campaigning and conveniently people were standing by with petitions to be signed.
What did impress me is that he actually said the phrases, “This is my opinion” and “This is what I think”. I either didn’t agree or he hadn’t even made an articulate declarative statement but it was refreshing to hear nonetheless.
He took questions from the audience or rather I should say he asked, “Would you like to see me tap dance? Heel, toe, shift, ball, change and I really respect and admire teachers and nurses, and what you’re a grave digger, well thank you too!” When fielding a question about a lack of funding for community colleges he touted his support by saying he learned English at Santa Monica Community College and then he let us in a little secret, that back in Austria, he had really wanted to be a salesmen.
posted by Information Concierge at Monday, April 11, 2005
1 Comments:
It's taken me a while to read this post because I was saving it until I could enjoy it (and because I can't read the tiny red text when my laptop is a baby-width away, teetering on my knees).
And I did enjoy it!
I get the impression I would react the same way to Arnie: don't agree with him, but at least he seems like a decent guy, who's not yer average politician. He can afford to say "this is my opinion", since this isn't his day job.
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