Mark Shields Likes My Vespa

If you are a wonk geek like me, you know who Mark Shields is. I have bumped into him three times now. I wish I could say I saw Brad Pitt at the Post Office today, but as Washingtonienne once quipped, Washington is Hollywood for ugly people. My other recent sighting of Wolfowitz at an ATM supports her contention, as does seeing a rumpled Sandra Day O'Connor in a 1970s vintage seersucker suit at Safeway, a very blow-dried Joe Biden on the Metroliner and short neocon plastic man Bill Kristol at DCA ordering around his underlings as they waited for the shuttle. My favorite DC geek sighting was, however, sharing a table at DCA with Bob Woodward as we both waited for our flight as he read the Washington Post. There was something very classic about that.

Ungainly and with too-big eyeglasses and a Boston accent, Shields is the classic liberal talking head, appearing every Friday night on the News Hour and Inside Washington. After he picked up his mail at the 20015 PO he stepped outside, saw me putting on my helmet, smiled and said, "I like your vespa." A Washington slice of life.