What impresses me...

I think I've finally discerned what impresses me most: Titans at the top of their game who still find time to be polite to us little people. A quick Googling of my witness' name from the other day reveals he is or has been on the boards of multiple Fortune 100 companies, various international banks and a well-known American university; as well as his current gig as honcho of a large Pacific Rim real estate consortium. I introduced myself to him at the beginning of the day, and at nearly every break he'd turn to me and ask, "Mike, can I get you some more coffee?" This guy worth probably billions asking me by name if he could get me a drink dazzled me more than anything on his resume.

A friend of mine from Chicago tells of a similar experience with now Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. His depo occurred more than a decade ago when he was in the private sector, but she still reminisces about the way he treated her with the same level of respect usually reserved for heads of state.

"It's the little things, those oh so little things..." - Robert Earl Keen