MIKE "PINBALL"CLEMONS

Last night I went out to dinner with some of the people from my training group at work. I was sitting with an older gentleman and lady (both in their fifties and have been with the government longer than I've been alive) and our trainer who's in his late thirties to early forties. They all know I'm still in school because I've had to run out of training twice in order to make it in time for classes. The lady beside started to ask me about my schooling and ambitions (something I'm always willing to discuss), and then she started complimenting me, (something I'm always willing to hear). She went on about how I seem to really know my stuff (I told you so!), that I have a great speaking voice, I'm entertaining and she told me I should really consider a career in politics if I change my mind about law. So, as you can imagine I'm feeling pretty good by this point of the evening. The conversation moved on and we started to talk about Toronto (only the trainer and I are from this area), we covered politics and sports and the CFL. Out of the blue the older gentleman says I really remind him of Mike "Pinball" Clemons. Normally, I don't think it's considered a compliment for someone to tell a girl she reminds of a football player, but than he explained. He said he had heard Clemons speak at an event and that Clemons was such a captivating personality. He said up until Clemons started to speak he hadn't really been paying attention, but then when he got up there you couldn't help but feel his presence. He said you really “bought into” what Clemons was saying and that he was such a likable, real person. You felt his passion and that his smile was simply contagious. He than said that I really do remind of Clemons.

I think that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.