I had no idea that this guy I was talking to in the Early Bird Cafe in Grand Bend was the future governor of Massachusetts, let alone a presidential candidate.
But he'd helped me out with a battery boost a couple of days before, and I'd helped him boost Seamus the Irish Setter into the doggie cage on the roof of his car, so when we accidentally met up at the Early Bird a few days later it was like we were old pals.
Waves and hey howya doin's all round. We took the table right next to him and his 15 or so kids, and like it goes in little restaurants we got to chatting a bit.
As it happened, my Missus of the time was very obviously "with child" as they say, and at some point Mitt and his lovely wife Ann said something about hope you're ready for the expense. We were baffled.
They were obviously concerned for us. This would be our first, and they had quite a gaggle going already, so many in fact that when they came up from Boston they had to put the dog on the roof of the car. But the expense?
What expense?
Turns out every time Ann went into the delivery room to pop out another young 'un, they got a bill for a thousand bucks. I'm listening to this, eyeballing his brood, taking up pretty much the entire dining room, and thinking holy cow, this man's highly motivated to make some serious dollars.
I explained to them that up here, there's no worries. Couple of teens rub the right (or wrong, depending on your point of view) body parts together, and nine months later they don't get a bill, they get free delivery!
Mitt and Ann seemed mightily impressed by this. I can see why. Would have saved them about twenty grand based on what I saw at the Early Bird.
So I wasn't completely surprised when Mitt trotted out the universal health care once he became governor. Didn't quite have the balls to make it true single-payer, but he came as close as America has ever got.
Love it or hate it, I'm the guy who gave him the idea.
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