carter

it was some kind of seminar. it was dark. all the presidents of the united states were there. on the second day there would be all the popes, and the day after that all the kings and queens of england. security was rigorous. security men in brown suits were everywhere. i found myself at a table with four other people - four faceless schmoes like myself, two men and two women. i realized there were five of us at a table for four and the others all seemed to know each other so i got up and tried to find someplace else to sit. i ended up sitting on the floor bedside the door. people were still pouring in, closely watched by the security men in their brown suits. but they were not frisking anybody or asking any questions. they had not frisked me or asked me any questions. the presidents of the united states were somewhere around, but i didn’t see any of them. finally the presentation began. the lights were not turned on. there was some kind of slide show, but from my seat on the floor beside the door i couldn’t see it. just a little bit of white light glancing off a screen. a voice said something about “carter” and everybody laughed. i didn’t know if they were talking about president jimmy carter or carter who made the little liver pills. ***