You look nervous, why are you so nervous? Have you done something...

Wow, THAT brought back memories. You might think this is just a movie cliche, but when I worked at the Grand Canyon, Gerald Ford came to visit, and so did the Secret Service. On the second night, I actually ran into these guys in the employee pub. I blew most of the night talking to one of the guys, and chatted with another when he came by. It was really cool, and I enjoyed it. At last call, the supervisor was there, and I offered to a buy a beer for him and the guy I had been talking to.

The supervisor flipped his lid an started grilling me. Why was I so interested in buying him a beer? Was I trying to get on his good side? Was I hiding something? What was my motivation? It was exactly like the grilling that Poitier does to River Phoenix. Freaked me the hell out... It was worse than when you get pulled over and the cop gets in your face...

Finally, the guy I had been chatting with al night was able to calm his boss down. I can't remember if he ended up taking my beer offer or not, but if I hadn't already been pretty loaded, I probably would have had a panic attack right there.

Otherwise, it was a pretty fun couple of days. The waitress at the restaurant tried to bring Betty Ford a gin and tonic, because she was so flustered, the SS agent I was haging with at one point reached across the bar and poured us new drinks, since the bartender was taking too long. I pointed out that it was very illegal, and his replay was "What are they gonna do, arrest me?"

He kind of had a point. The North Rim is 6 hours from any decent sized town, I didn't see them going through the hassle of busting him and then driving him somewhere so they could process him. I never did bother to ask if they had a lockdown cell of any kind.