Barb’s Burblings

A guy at the First Ladies exhibit totally made my day. In the first room of the exhibit, there’s a picture of each First Lady, her name–including her maiden name, and the years she served as First Lady. Most people ask about the women listed as “daughter-in-law” or “niece” (generally because the wife of the president died before he took office; the exception is James Buchanan, the only president who never married), but I always want someone to ask me why Eleanor Roosevelt only has one name*. And this guy did! I was SO happy.

Of course, he also made my day when he explained that he wears Yankees gear in Rhode Island not because he’s a baseball fan, but to annoy Red Sox fans. “I don’t care about baseball,” he said, “I just hate Red Sox fans.” Man, if this guy wasn’t there with his wife and kids, I would’ve given him my number.

Also making the day exciting was the presence of vomit hiding in the corner of the exhibit. Fun! I got to track down security to have it cleaned up. Apparently a docent was there when it happened and told the folks at the information desk, but didn’t actually do anything about it. This was the perfect counter to yesterday, when someone at Ford’s had a medical emergency and we had to call 911, and I spent intermission telling people to using the bathrooms in the balcony or the museum. Never a dull moment!

* Her maiden name was also Roosevelt; she and Franklin were fifth cousins. Teddy Roosevelt was Eleanor’s uncle, and actually gave her away at her wedding. So, really, she should be listed as Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt.