COFFEE WITH MY CONGRESSMAN

This morning I had the unexpected pleasure of running into my representative in Congress, Christopher Shays. We were appearing on the same news show Daytime on Channel 12 a Cablevision program hosted by Rebecca Serran and David Smith. Shays was on just before me, talking about his eight-hour visit to Baghdad. I think he was interested in talking to me because I had been there for five days.

He was full of questions for me, which I had no real answers for. My opinion is that at the moment in Iraq there is a definite communications problem. The U.S. and the Iraqis are not speaking the same language.

Shays waited until I’d finished my segment. We chatted awhile in the green room and then walked out to the parking lot together. When we reached our cars he stopped and looked me in the eye. "You know…" He began a thought which seemed like part of a train he’d been on for some time. "Does it ever seem strange to you that we are the ones in charge now?"

I told him I really wasn’t sure where he was going with this. "It used to be our parents," he continued, "but now it’s us. We’re the ones in charge."

"Oh, I see what you’re saying," I said. "Yes, I do know what you mean. It’s all up to us isn’t it?"