Macklin meets Joe Biden

Macklin was more interested in Angry Birds
than jovial politicians.

The strangest series of events happened on Saturday morning, all leading up to a once-in-a-lifetime moment: meeting Vice President Joe Biden at the local diner. Had any one of the following not occurred, we would have missed him and never known it.

• Macklin's school has been under investigation by the Health department for a particularly viscious strain of streptococcus.
• Two weeks ago Macklin got strep throat and an ear infection. He just finished his antibiotics last Monday. 
• On Saturday, Macklin woke again with a sore throat and ear pain.
• We cancel our breakfast plans with friends (10 minutes before we were supposed to meet them. Sorry, guys!) at Esther's German Bakery and head instead to the Kaiser urgent care in Santa Clara.
• We skip breakfast at home to get out fast.
• There's no line at the urgent care, and we're in and out within 10 minutes.
• We debate breakfast spots and, discovering none in Santa Clara, head to the Sunnyvale Hobee's.
• Discussing plans for the day, we linger over the delicious coffeecake and let Macklin play some Angry Birds on his iPod.

If we'd paid the check promptly and left, we would have missed the CHiPs motorcycle cops riding into the parking lot, and the men in black suits with ear pieces flooding the diner. But we didn't. We saw the cops, noticed the Secret Service suddenly manning all entry and exit points, and we sat up a little straighter. Who could it be?

I could not have been more shocked when Vice President Biden walked in, and it was a strange experience to shake his hand and introduce him to Macklin. He was funny, gracious and warm, and he was delighted when I wished him a happy father's day. He obviously loves kissing the babies - he either held, snuggled or otherwise joked with every kid in the place. (Ours was the cutest, of course. The kid in a superman cape came in second.)

Will we see a Biden/Clinton ticket in 2016? Based on the reaction of my fellow Hobee's diners, I'd say he has a firm hold on the California electorate.

Photo evidence on flickr