Bob Schieffer signed off of the CBS evening news the other day. He has been filling in the hiatus between the exit of Katie Couric and the entrance of her replacement. As usual, he has done an excellent job--making hard work look easy and professionalism seem like common sense. He represents the old guard of journalists who grew up in print. These men, Erik Severied, Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley may have been members of the good old boys club, but they still behaved like gentlemen and not spoiled brats. In the case of Mr. Schieffer, his basic, inherent, good manners showed in how he acted off camera and to a person who meant absolutely nothing to him.
I met Bob Schieffer, ever so briefly, during the 1988 Presidential Election between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. I worked for the White House Advance Staff, which essentially meant I could pass a security check and knew how to replace the toner cartridge in the copy machine. I lived in St. Louis at that time and any time I wasn't working at my paying job I was working for Vice President Bush. When he came to town there were two things to take care of, the Vice President and the press. Trust me, the Vice President was much less demanding. It seems that the press that covers national elections feels itself to be an entitled and superior entity and woe betide the person who forgets to give proper respect to their lofty status. I have never seen a body of people who were so consistently rude, demanding and self-centered as the television press corps. Bob Schieffer was a notable exception to this pervasive and irksome attitude.
At the biggest event I worked, which was at the now defunct Omni Hotel at Union Station in downtown St. Louis, we had an entire ballroom set aside for the press to file their stories after the Vice President spoke. The press room had banks of telephones, all with outgoing-only land lines (can you tell how the world has changed in two decades?). The room also had a huge buffet at the front, because if the political party hosting the event doesn't feed the press they will remember that when writing their stories--remember, they are entitled. Because all of the telephones were out-going only any messages for the reporters had to be sent through our advance office HQ. While manning the phones at the headquarters, I got a message for Bob Schieffer. After grabbing the message, running down a flight of stairs and along a long hall to the press room (in very high heels, I may add) I got to the room only to be met by a sea of a hundred reporters. Faced with no other obvious choice I went to the front of the room, turned on my teacher voice and asked for Mr. Schieffer. He waved me down and when I handed over the message I apologized for my unorthodox approach to finding him. He smiled, looked me in the eye (most press dismiss you by looking anywhere but your face) and said, "You're doing fine, young lady. Thank you."
That exchange was so simple and so humane that I have admired the man ever sense. He not only was so well behaved, but behaved so differently than 90% of everyone else in the room that he distinguished himself automatically. Most of us can teach lessons by setting examples. It costs nothing to be polite, to smile, to share a kind word. It will always make you look better. The wicked part of me (and there is a really wicked part of me) also has to admit that there is nothing like being nice to make rude people look like a chapped butt.
I met Bob Schieffer, ever so briefly, during the 1988 Presidential Election between George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. I worked for the White House Advance Staff, which essentially meant I could pass a security check and knew how to replace the toner cartridge in the copy machine. I lived in St. Louis at that time and any time I wasn't working at my paying job I was working for Vice President Bush. When he came to town there were two things to take care of, the Vice President and the press. Trust me, the Vice President was much less demanding. It seems that the press that covers national elections feels itself to be an entitled and superior entity and woe betide the person who forgets to give proper respect to their lofty status. I have never seen a body of people who were so consistently rude, demanding and self-centered as the television press corps. Bob Schieffer was a notable exception to this pervasive and irksome attitude.
At the biggest event I worked, which was at the now defunct Omni Hotel at Union Station in downtown St. Louis, we had an entire ballroom set aside for the press to file their stories after the Vice President spoke. The press room had banks of telephones, all with outgoing-only land lines (can you tell how the world has changed in two decades?). The room also had a huge buffet at the front, because if the political party hosting the event doesn't feed the press they will remember that when writing their stories--remember, they are entitled. Because all of the telephones were out-going only any messages for the reporters had to be sent through our advance office HQ. While manning the phones at the headquarters, I got a message for Bob Schieffer. After grabbing the message, running down a flight of stairs and along a long hall to the press room (in very high heels, I may add) I got to the room only to be met by a sea of a hundred reporters. Faced with no other obvious choice I went to the front of the room, turned on my teacher voice and asked for Mr. Schieffer. He waved me down and when I handed over the message I apologized for my unorthodox approach to finding him. He smiled, looked me in the eye (most press dismiss you by looking anywhere but your face) and said, "You're doing fine, young lady. Thank you."
That exchange was so simple and so humane that I have admired the man ever sense. He not only was so well behaved, but behaved so differently than 90% of everyone else in the room that he distinguished himself automatically. Most of us can teach lessons by setting examples. It costs nothing to be polite, to smile, to share a kind word. It will always make you look better. The wicked part of me (and there is a really wicked part of me) also has to admit that there is nothing like being nice to make rude people look like a chapped butt.
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