President Bush is paying a call on the metro today and that has me remembering my own personal encounters with our leaders over the years. Okay. I've never had a "personal encounter" with a president. But, I do have a long-standing interest in the presidency. Obviously, when it comes to presidential history, I'm no Michael Beschloss or Doris Kearns Goodwin but I did have a poster of the presidents on my bedroom wall when I was a kid. No, it didn't begin with Washington and end with Millard Fillmore. I'm not that old...I just look that old. Anyway, the poster was right next to the one featuring Vice-President Farrah Fawcett.

Years ago, I did a story the morning of a presidential State of the Union address, asking people on the street what they would say if they were giving the speech. In a newsroom, that kind of story is called an MOS, which stands for Man On the Street. It really should be POS for Person On the Street or HOS for Human On the Street or, just to cover everything, COS for Creature On the Street or to designate an exclusive chat with Bill Cosby. Anyway, on a big dry-erase board in the newsroom they list the subject of a given story, the program it maybe used on, the reporter, photographer and type of story. For my State of the Union story it broke down like this:

Subject: State of the Union
Type: MOS
Reporter: Joel-LEFAR
Photographer: WDSS
Program: UOID

I guess I should explain those other acronyms. Like I mentioned earlier, MOS is for Man On the Street. LEFAR stands for Lame Excuse For A Reporter. WDSS means Whoever Draws the Short Straw. And, lastly, UOID indicates Use Only If Desperate.

After getting lots of comments from interesting, well-informed, clever folks, I ended the story standing in the produce aisle of a grocery store and said "Overall, from my perspective, the state of the ONION, is great! But, the kumquats are marginal, at best. Joel Nichols KMBC Nine News." Now, do you see why they don't let me do stories, anymore?

Well, back to personal presidential encounters. Around KMBC there are lots of reporters that have had one-on-one time with the leader of the free world. Kris Ketz was once shushed by President Clinton during a speech. Micheal Mahoney has followed most of them around the country during campaigns. Larry Moore has interviewed a number of them. Jim Flink claims to have compared hair-care products with President Reagan.

Even members of my family have had some brushes with history. My grandma once saw JFK on the street in Milwaukee. He wasn't president yet but she thought he seemed like a nice young man. If he'd just taken time to chat with my grandma, I suspect he could've avoided that whole Bay of Pigs thing. I believe my brother, Mark, met the first President Bush when Mark was named Airman of the Year sometime ago. Of course, we called it Airhead of the Year, but that was just the green-eyed monster talking. I don't mean envy or jealousy. We actually had a green-eyed monster living in our cellar. He was very unpleasant and bitter. But, he was a whiz at playing Scrabble and very adept at adjusting the rabbit ears on the TV so we kept him. For the younger reader, in the old days, TVs often had antennas sitting on top in an effort to pull in the signal. Sometimes we would put tin-foil on the ends or just have our cousin with lots of fillings stand there and hold on.

Over the years, I've only had a couple of "sort-of" commander-in-chief moments. One was with a man who ran for the office, and may do so again, John McCain. He was in town to talk about his first book, so my wife, youngest boy, Harrison, and I went to hear him. Our son was only about two years old and rather bored. He fell sound asleep as I held him. As we were standing in line, Senator McCain walked up...signed my copy of his book...tapped the snoozing Harrison on the head and said "That's the effect my speeches usually have on people."

The other time, in 1989, I was leaving KMBC for home and found myself stopped at the corner of 10th and Broadway. Police were everywhere. It wasn't long before the motorcade went cruising by, including the limo with the presidential seal on the door. The first President Bush was arriving at Bartle Hall to speak to the FFA. (Remember the Bluecoats?) As his car went past, I am sure the president waved at me. I must say I was surprised he didn't ad-lib a mention of me in his subsequent speech. Something like "On my way here today, I saw an amazingly handsome young man sitting in his well-cared-for Dodge Dart. It was clear from the look in his eye, that he is a true leader in this community. So, I've decided to declare that young man a national treasure and not require he ever file with the IRS again. Read my lips. No new taxes...for the amazingly handsome young man in the Dodge Dart." It didn't happen but, at least, I am convinced I got a presidential wave.