Going to Meet the Man

Back in the late '90s, a friend of mine had just started contracting out at Microsoft (a gig I also enjoyed) and shortly after her arrival her workgroup planned a lunch together where they would "meet the man." My friend was pretty excited, because she thought she was going to be noshing with Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer (frankly, a meal with the boisterous Ballmer is my vision of hell). But instead of the bigwigs in the cafeteria, she was ushered to Dixie's BBQ where she met The Man:

Gene Porter, owner and Master of Ceremonies, used to, and still does, walk up and down the line (unless you get there at 11 when they open, or it’s raining hard, there is always a very long, annoyingly slow line) yelling and mumbling incoherently and offering tastes of The Man, the most ridiculously hot sauce ever made by anyone, anywhere.

Well, I'm going to see another The Man today, but he might not be quite as spicy -- Al Gore. He did his slideshow presentation at Key Arena last night (where the Sonics play), and he'll be doing a smaller presentation at Starbucks headquarters today. I'll be there helping out my former office mate and coordinator of the event, and hopefully I'll get a close-up shot of The Man to post here later. (And while I'm in the neighborhood, I might just grab a bit of tasty BBQ at the ramshackle Pecos Pit.)