My Cable News Network Adventure

About noon on Wednesday, June 19, 2002, I was helping my wife clean up the kitchen. My job was to clean out the icebox and I was about half done. As best I remember, about 12:10 p.m., I received a call. It was someone from Cable News Network (CNN) telling me they wanted me to be on CNN starting at 3:15 P.M. (regarding the Southwest Airlines "People of Size" Policy)

I explained to them that their TV station was about 70 miles away from me and in the heart of D.C., and that I would not be able to get dressed, get into the car, drive to the subway, catch the subway, and make it to their station by 3:15 P.M.

They said that they would send a car for me. I forgot to get a callback number. I got dressed, got the teddy bear, and waited for the local taxicab to show up. The one that I assumed they would call so that the taxicab could take me to D.C.

After about 45 minutes, I decided that their plan was not going to work and that I would not be going to D.C. Shortly after, I got a call from the driver they were sending from D.C. to pick me up. If I remember correctly, he picked me up about 2:15 P.M.


I knew that if they wanted me at 3:15 P.M., that would mean that the show would be starting about 4:00 P.M. When I drive on an interstate, usually everything passes me. In this situation, I was in a vehicle that was passing everything else on the road. The highest number I remember seeing on the speedometer was 95. As we traveled, I used my cell phone to call various friends and discuss the issues that I might be facing.

I got to the T.V. station at 3:40 P.M. They were waiting for me. They took me right upstairs and at 3:45 P.M., I was sitting in a chair facing a camera. I asked if I could use the bathroom and I was told that there was no time. It was then that it dawned on me that the show was already on the air and I would have absolutely no time to prepare.

Within one minute of the time that I sat in the chair, I was on live TV and being asked a question. I did the best that I could in the time that I was allowed. Having used a Cadillac to get me there, and now being done with me, I was worried that they might give me a bus ticket and tell me to get myself back to Hagerstown. They took me home in the same car that they brought me. I still have not finished cleaning out the icebox.