Not all small towns are alike

I went to a funeral this weekend for the son of a friend.

I was a little late, and was escorted to an empty seat in the front.

It was a small church, with a small turnout.

But the guy sitting next to me was President Jimmy Carter.

Wait, what?

Is this the plot of another movie you dislike?

Did you get an autograph?

I was in Americus, GA. Next door to Plains.

The young man was a neighbor of the Carters in Plains.

I've done several jobs for Mr. Carter, and have worked with him during the time I was with Habitat for Humanity.

Autograph not necessary.

In MY small town, it is not unheard of to see Mrs. Carter shopping at the Piggly Wiggly, or President Carter buying wood at the local lumber yard (he's an avid woodworker).

Love it.

Of the four I have met he's the one I would want to sit next to.

In reply to oldopelguy:

I haven't met 4, but this one is a pretty inspirational conversationalist.

I'm sorry for your buddy's loss. Wonder how the President knows the family?

That's awesome. Carter always struck me as a rather humble human being.

as a former President … is he still escorted/protected by Secret Service ?

and +1 to him being one of the 2 I'd like to have the chance to meet … Bush 41 would be the other

You're still in All-binny? I thought you moved up to the mountains. I've got family over near Fitzgerald but I don't get down there often. Next time you get through the greater Macon-Warner Robins metropolitan area we should grab a beer or something.

I've done a couple road bike charity rides that took us through the Plains / Americus area and through Koinonia Farms. Pretty area. Crap-paved secondary roads. Have yet to meet Mr. Carter but would certainly enjoy it if I did.

Appleseed wrote: I'm sorry for your buddy's loss. Wonder how the President knows the family?

Plains is a pretty small place. They are neighbors.

petegossett wrote: That's awesome. Carter always struck me as a rather humble human being.

Yep. Still shows up for the funeral of a handicapped son of a poor single mom.

In reply to ultraclyde:

Yep. Still in Albany.

Interesting- I've been working at Koinonia Farm for the last couple months.

In reply to wbjones:

The Secret Service detail for Mr. Carter is pretty interesting. They wear jeans, sleep in tents, go to rural communities, and have their own house on his property in Plains.

Its pretty funny to see 3 black SUVs pull out of the local lumber yard with a couple of boards sticking out the back of one.

Jimmy Carter is one of my favorite US presidents. He sat down with you all and tried to talk with you like adults about serious problems that could be dealt with early on, but nobody wanted to hear any of that downer E36 M3 so then you all elected Reagan...and the rest is history...

In reply to GameboyRMH:

I know stuff you do not know, but I'm here to honor the man.

How 'bout we keep the politics out of it, OK?

americus. oh no, i knew a girl from there once. brings back some crazy memories to hear that town name.

jimmy carter is one of my heroes. he was president before i was born, don't know about any of that. it's because of his habitat for humanity work and the fact that he's still at it.

patgizz wrote: americus. oh no, i knew a girl from there once. brings back some crazy memories to hear that town name. jimmy carter is one of my heroes. he was president before i was born, don't know about any of that. it's because of his habitat for humanity work and the fact that he's still at it.

dang .. you kids really make me feel my age… LOL ..

Truman was President when I was born … LOL

Neat experience. I agree with Carter being one I'd like to meet. Bush #2 as well. While I don't agree with a lot of the decisions either of them made as President, I do believe they did the best they could with the information they had at the time.

GameboyRMH wrote: Jimmy Carter is one of my favorite US presidents. He sat down with you all and tried to talk with you like adults about serious problems that could be dealt with early on, but nobody wanted to hear any of that downer E36 M3 so then you all elected Reagan...and the rest is history...

Mr. Carter seems like a decent, honest, and intelligent man. His complete inability to pronounce the word "nuclear" is shared by many other worthy folks, and does not impinge on his character at all. However, I firmly believe he was at the limit of his capacity as governor of Georgia, let alone President of the country.

And with that, I'm going to leave the politics alone, and just say that's pretty cool, Paul. I'm sorry about the circumstances.

The pinnacle of Mr. Carter's career and accomplishments was not his presidency, but rather his post-presidency.

However, he never could have accomplished any of it if he had not been president first.

Cool story.

SVreX wrote: The pinnacle of Mr. Carter's career and accomplishments was not his presidency, but rather his post-presidency. However, he never could have accomplished any of it if he had not been president first.

quoted for truth there

As a submariner, I'd always wanted to ask him what Rickover and the early days of nuclear subs was like.