A Sunny Summer Day, Aug. 2009

One sunny day in the summer of 2009 an old man approached the north gate of the White House from the park across Pennsylvania Avenue where he'd been sitting on a bench. He spoke to the uniformed Secret Service officer standing guard, saying, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The guard looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here."

The old man replied, "Okay" and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same officer, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The guard again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here."

The man thanked him and, again, walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same uniformed officer, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The guard, somewhat agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?"

The old man looked at the officer and with a wry smile said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."

The guard snapped to attention, saluted, and replied, "See you tomorrow!"

Hat Tip To Anner1