Fun_People Archive
26 Mar
Seattle and the Reverse Hustle

Date: Tue, 26 Mar 96 14:43:08 -0800
From: Peter Langston <psl>
To: Fun_People
Subject: Seattle and the Reverse Hustle

[Am I the only one to notice that while Mike Lowry and Norm Rice may be  
different colors, they have the same lips?  -psl]

Forwarded-by: Keith Bostic <bostic@bsdi.com>
Forwarded-by: DNWU64A@prodigy.com ( KEITH E SULLIVAN)

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NORM RICE'S NEW SECRET STRATEGY
By: Jean Godden, Times Staff Columnist
From: The Seattle Times, Wednesday, March 13, 1996.

Seattle Mayor Norm Rice's gubernatorial campaign staff let him down on his
recent announcement swing through Eastern Washington.  The staff booked a
seat on the plane to Spokane all right, but -- contrary to the plan -- Rice
ended up in the middle seat.

Undaunted, Rice struck up a conversation with one of his seat companions.
He told him he was running for governor and said, "I'll see if I can get
the guy on the other side to vote for me."

The man, deep into a book, looked up and said, "Why, you're Norm Rice.
You're alone, traveling in the middle seat, carrying you own bags.  You're
my kind of candidate."  The man, who identified himself as a resident of
Elk, Spokane County, said, sure, he'd vote for Rice.

Rice's campaign manager Sue Tupper says, "From now on, this is our secret
strategy:  book Norm into the middle seat."


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HEY, BUDDY, COULD YOU USE A DIME?
By: Jean Godden, Times Staff Columnist
From: the Seattle Times, Sunday, March 24, 1996.

Seattle:  It's now the home of the reverse hustle.  Just ask West Seattle
resident Eldon Wallmeyer.  He tried to buy a candy bar in a downtown Seattle
convenience store last week.  But when he emptied his pockets, he found only
52 cents.

The clerk said, "Sorry.  You need 60 cents."

Wallmeyer put the candy bar back and left.  A block away, he was hustled by
a panhandler who said, "Could you spare a dollar?"

Wallmeyer broke into laughter.  The hustler demanded, "What's funny?"
Wallmeyer said it was amusing being asked for a dollar when he didn't have
quite enough money for a candy bar.

"How much do you need?" asked the suddenly sympathetic hustler.  Wallmeyer
said he was about a dime short.

The hustler reached into his pocket, handed over a coin.  "Here," he said
to Wallmeyer, "Take this."

© 1996 Peter Langston