By Dee Richard
However, that perspective was challenged by a chance conversation with a reader who asked, “How can you claim to be unbiased when you sit on the board of directors of the North East Queens Republican Club?” he asked, adding, “Perception often supersedes reality.” He had a point! After giving it much thought, I reluctantly decided to resign from the club's board of directors. The Queens County Republican Party, while rather small, is also rather fractured. I like and respect all the club members belonging to the various groups. We are coming into a new political season and each club will be supporting their chosen candidates and I do not want to be put into a position of seeming to be biased. Isn't it funny how a chance conversation with a relatively total stranger can affect some decisions that you make in life?If you sit on the board of directors of a community organization, or a not-for-profit, it does not create the same sort of impression of bias that could be applicable to a political club. I do hope this is the right decision.Did you ever have a day when anything that can go wrong does go wrong? That was last Thursday's story. It started off with U.S. Rep. Garry Ackerman's (D-Bayside) bus trip down to Washington to see him get sworn into the 210th Congress. This was either the ninth or 10th trip I have taken to cover the same event. This year instead of the usual one bus, Gary provided two buses, both of which were filled to capacity. The buses left Northern and Springfield boulevards at 5:30 a.m.Mistake No. 1 was the clothing choice. I don't know what I was thinking, but for some reason my choice was a pair of black leather pants topped off with a woolen sweater and a leather vest. For those of you who have visited the Washington, D.C. public buildings, the temperatures are about 80 degrees. Since leather is nonporous, it created the effect of walking around in my own private, personal sauna. Not having the foresight to have worn a blouse under the sweater, I could not remove the sweater that added to the heat. The pants were tailored to be worn with high heel shoes. I had gotten a new pair of black high heel boots for the holidays. Mistake No. 2 was to wear them to avoid walking on the pants cuffs. After continuously walking miles on highly polished marble and terrazzo floors in new shiny leather soles and heels, it forced me to give the appearance of walking on eggs in order to avoid a fall. At the end of the day, I would have much rather have worn sneakers or flat-healed shoes even if it meant ruining the pants and looking like Dopey from the Seven Dwarfs. My feet hurt so much that at one point I seriously considered removing the boots and walking the halls of Congress in my stocking feet. I decided that would not look very cool. So, suffer I did.To add to the day's tale of woe, I discovered my camera had a malfunction. I wish to thank good friend Harbachan Singh for coming to the rescue and very generously offering me the use of his camera. Without him, what would I have done? The main purpose of the trip, after all, was to take photographs. Thank you, Harbachan! I was totally unfamiliar with his camera, but nonetheless was able to get some good shots.On the bus going down and coming back, I sat across the isle from Borough President Helen Marshall. Marshall is one hard working lady. On the trip down, she brought much of her work with her and managed to conduct the business of the borough via cell phone for most of the trip. Her husband and grandson also accompanied her. What a handsome young man her grandson has turned out to be! According to Marshall, he is considering entering the world of politics. He has two more years of college left, so he has time to finalize his decision. This was a historic moment in Washington as this was the first time in our country's history that a woman was appointed speaker of the House of Representatives. Would I make the trip again? Emphatically yes Ð providing someone reminds me to dress more sensibly and comfortably so that the trip would be enjoyable rather than an endurance contest as this year's trip turned out to be. Hope you had a good holiday. I always look forward to hearing from you directly, with information on people, parties and politics or some plain old fashioned gossip.That's it for this week. I look forward to receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, your faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com. Don't forget to check out the “Focus on Queens Page.”Till next week, Dee.
