Over capacity crowd

The governor's staff decided the waiting room at a health care clinic in Des Moines would be a good spot to stage a bill signing ceremony for legislation the dealt with health care.  I arrived at the site by 11:17 a.m., but had to drive several blocks to find a place to park.  As I walked down the street toward the clinic, a man working in his yard asked: "What are all these cars here for?  Did somebody die?"

"The governor's signing a bill at that health clinic down at the corner," I advised.

"Well, tell him to stop here afterwards.  I've got something to say," the man replied as he tossed a bit of garbage in the receptacle at his curb.

By 11:30 a.m., dozens of people were jammed into the clinic's waiting room.  Some had to stand outside.  When the event started about 10 minutes late, I had to fish a microphone stand out of my gear.  The governor's staff set up a sound system, but they just left the microphone sitting on the make-shift table that was to serve as the lectern. 

"Good morning," Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge said as she was recognized to speak.  "Thank you all for coming.  As I'm standing here sneezing and coughing, I'm wondering if there's any relief for allergies, if anybody could deal with an allergy problem this morning.  Probably there is in this group."  The clinic's medical director nodded his head, but I didn't see him whip out a prescription pad.

Later, Culver sat down at a table and signed two bills into law as some of the legislators involved in crafting the bills watched.