Trent Lott: Man of the People, Fledgling Lobbyist
Lott took his first Metro ride ever last weekend, when thousands of tourists were in town enjoying the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Could there be a more perfect time for a prima donna first-time rider?
“I stood up the whole time,” Lott said, smiling, as if he enjoyed it.
Lott really had no idea how to even go about taking public transportation. He didn’t know how to use the Metro fare card machines, or how much money to put on his trip ticket, or how to add money to one of the fare cards his wife gave him. Truly: clueless.
So Patricia Lott did what any good spouse would do. “I took my wife with me and she helped me out,” Lott said.
The fare card his wife gave him was demagnetized, Lott said, so he got a “special note” from the station manager so he and his wife could proceed to Metro Center, where she showed him how to go to the counter and turn in his demagnetized and used fare cards for a new one. (Special notes, it should be noted, are not just for important former members of Congress; that’s the way it works for everyone who has a demagnetized card in the in D.C. transit system.)
“I’m a man of the people now,” said Lott, who retired in December of last year, less than a year into serving a new six-year term.
Besides taking public transportation, the one-time Senate majority leader is learning how to pull out his wallet, which should certainly be a lot fatter these days after bolting from public service to rake in cash in the private sector.
“I haven’t paid for lunch in 30 years,” he joked. Breaux chimed in with an eye roll, saying, “Yeah, he’s learning how to pay for lunch.”
WAPO Blog
4/11/8
hattip FOLO
Magnolia Tribune
