Another inauguration post. Slightly randomly I ended up meeting Bill Clinton and talking with him about poverty. A whole bunch of people shook his hand and he seemed to love the attention. I thought quickly, “Shit, if I could say one thing to Bill Clinton in my life, what would it be?” So I came up with something like, “Thanks for all of the work you did to combat poverty. I worked in Chelsea, MA, and could see the positive effects of your decisions.” And then he ended up talking to me about how he’s working with Obama right now specifically on poverty issues. It’s high up on their agenda. It was a very good statement for him to elaborate on.
It was a nice moment. I believe that Clinton did make incredibly positive changes to the “welfare” system. I used to talk with the young moms about these changes and even though the changes often made it more difficult for them to access benefits, they were in favor of the regulations and job requirements. Although, obviously there are many more changes that need to take place. I was always incredibly frustrated by the lack of an easy transition out of welfare.
My mom shaking Bill's hand.
Dahlia said on February 4th, 2009 at 2:34 pm:
That’s awesome! Good for you for thinking of something intelligent to say to him. I would have been like, “Hey, you’re Bill Clinton!”
Amanda said on March 3rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm:
The funniest thing is my aunt knit the hat that I’m wearing in the photo and she is so excited that Bill Clinton saw her knit hat. We also ended up hanging out with Dave Chappelle and a little kid on an elevator. The kid kept on asking us all questions about Obama and the Inauguration and Dave was really into the kid. It was pretty funny. Then the kid got off the elevator probably never to know that Dave Chappelle thought he was the shit.