LOS ANGELES, CA-

A little while ago, I was invited to give a talk in a faraway city. The hosting organization flew me hundreds of miles away, picked me up at the airport, and put me up at a nice hotel.

The talk was held in a large room, with about seventy people in attendance. My host gave me a kind introduction and then called me to the microphone, while everyone clapped.  But when I got up to the podium I noticed something disconcerting.

Just a few feet away from me, right in the center of the second row, there was a man who was fast asleep.

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NORFOLK, VA-

“Where are you going?” the U.S. immigration officer asked me. I was at the Toronto airport flying into the States, and so this was a fair question. The only problem was that, at the time, I couldn’t remember the answer.

It was 7 AM on a Sunday morning, but the problem wasn’t exhaustion as much as it was that I was – and am – on a ridiculously hectic mini-book tour, and I had momentarily lost track of where I was headed next.

“Um,” I said. “That’s a good question.”

He gave me a stern look, and I thought he might call security.

Meanwhile, I struggled to remember what day it was and where I was going. (more…)

NEW YORK, NY-

I’m never comfortable with those lunch meetings where you haven’t actually met the person before. The blind dates of doing business. Beforehand, I always want to ask them what they’ll be wearing or tell them I’ll be holding a white rose or something, but that sort of thing doesn’t really fly professionally.

But it usually works out. You get to the restaurant at the agreed upon time, and after making a second or two of furtive eye contact with another person clearly waiting for someone, you confirm that you’ve found one another and you sit down.

Well, the other day I was meeting someone named Roger at a nice Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side, and I had no idea what he looked like. (more…)

VIENNA, VA-

At some point back during those endless Democratic primaries, I answered my phone and heard a young child’s voice saying “Bama” excitedly. It took me a moment to realize that it was my nephew, not quite two-years-old, trying to say, “Go Obama!”

His parents were not happy about this. They were enthusiastic supporters of Hillary Clinton and had told both their sons — the older one was four-years-old — that the family would be supporting Clinton. All was well and good until the four-year-old saw the two candidates in action on TV, shook his head, and said, “No. I like him.” (more…)