My (Almost) Trip to the White House

About a week ago, I received an invitation to attend the first ever Community College Summit hosted by Jill Biden.  The invitation said, "please note that this invitation is strictly non-transferable" so I was ecstatic.  I wasn't sure WHY I had received an invitation (maybe it was those letters I sent on my boss' behalf to Jill, perhaps it was my article that was published in the American Society for Quality regarding higher education and innovation, or maybe they selected random people based off of their mailing list).  Who was I to question the motives of our highest government officials?  :)

After receiving the green light from my boss to attend, I announced to the world (via Facebook) that "this girl from little 'ol Lyle was going to a Summit at the White House!"...or something to that effect.  So I sent in my paperwork to get my security clearance only to be told...

The invitation was meant for my boss and not me... (sob, sob, sniffle, sniffle)

My boss wrote emails to Jill Biden and other White House staff stating that since they had invited me, they needed to honor their invitation.  I wrote emails to the "Mr. No" at the White House letting him know how disappointed I was that I would not get to represent all of the great things we are doing here at the college:

"It is not often that we are presented with opportunities that can have such a tremendous (positive) impact on the future of the industry in which we work.  And this Summit is so much more than that; it's a chance to affect policy at the national level, and ultimately the welfare of all American citizens."

Our emails made their way through the White House (I have the email string to prove it) and before we knew it, my boss was receiving phone calls from Anthony Bernal, Jill Biden's director of scheduling (Google him).  When he couldn't reach Dr. Toda, he called me.  I had a very interesting series of conversations with Mr. B...he made several claims which were not true.  It was an obvious case of CYA (or someone's 'A').

Claim #1:  The invitation was not sent to my attention.
Ehhh - incorrect.  I was blind copied on the email which reads, "Tria Bullard".

Claim #2:  White House staff do not have the capability to blind copy.
Me - "Oh, let me just fax you a copy of the email." (No you DIDN'T just call me a liar!)

Claim #3:  "Tria, you requested that Dr. Toda's invitation be sent on your behalf.  We called you on 9/17 at 10:19 in the morning."
Wrong again, Mr. B!  Me - "I will send you photos of my phone log.  Oh, and by the way, I'm not able to delete individual phone records and you'll notice that I received a call at 9 and then at noon, and none in-between."

Mr. B is very smart so he never acknowledged that I was right and HE WAS WRONG in his emails or phone calls.  Apparently Mr. B and his staff were in trouble with Dr. Biden because she specifically asked for my boss to attend this summit (that's cool, I guess).

So I'm not going to DC.  :(  My boss is going...and I told him he better get me a darn good souvenir.

BUT -- I got Jill Biden's director of scheduling all fussed...AND I have his cell phone number.  I'll revel in that evil pleasure.

So does that make me more like Sarah Palin or the Salahis?

(First, let's celebrate the fact that Ms. Palin is not the second-in-charge of our country -- woo hoo!)  Like Sarah, I was so close to the White House but probably undeserving...

Then there's the Salahis, the reality TV stars who crashed the White House State Dinner for Mexican President Felipe Calderon.  Hey, at least I can say I have an invitation with my name on it...