He No Longer Lives Here
One sunny day in 2009 an old man approached the White House
from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he’d been
sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S. Marine
standing guard and said, ‘I would like to go in and meet
with President Bush. The Marine looked at the man and said,
‘Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer
resides here.’ The old man said, ‘Okay’ and
walked away.
The following day, the same man approached the White House
and said to the same Marine, ‘I would like to go in and
meet with President Bush.’ The Marine again told the
man, ‘Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer
president and no longer resides here.’ The man thanked
him and, again, just walked away.
The third day, the same man approached the White House and
spoke to the very same U. S. Marine, saying ‘I would
like to go in and meet with President Bush. ‘The Marine,
somewhat agitated at this point, looked at the man and said,
‘Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here
asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you already that
Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides
here.
Don’t you understand?’
The old man looked at the Marine and said, ‘Oh, I
understand. I just love hearing it.’