Al Franken’s recent seating in the Senate reminded me of an incident that occurred during the 2004 Democratic convention in Boston. We were waiting in front of the Unitarian church in Harvard Square to enter a symposium featuring Robert Kennedy Jr., Toni Morrison, and Franken. When Franken arrived, we applauded. As he climbed the steps, I called out his famous line as Saturday Night Live’s Stuart Smalley: “And doggone it, people LIKE me!” He laughed with us, and got Minnesota to like him, too.
Bill Whitacre / Quincy
Brew-Through I was third in the cash line exiting the Pike for Cambridge, clutching a five-dollar bill for the buck twenty-five toll. As I moved into second place, a hand emerged from the car ahead and handed the toll taker a can of beer . . . then floored it. “Hmmmm,” I mused as I inched forward and proffered my fiver. I received back two-fifty -- and the beer.
Mark Angney / Jamaica Plain
