Pete's Diner, Where John Boehner Can Be A 'Regular Guy'
When Speaker of the House John Boehner resigned earlier this week he said, as he often has, that he's "just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job."
He's far from regular on Capitol Hill, but one of the few places in Washington Boehner can still get away with that title just might be Pete's Diner on Capitol Hill.
Most days of the week owner Gum Tong and her staff prepare the same breakfast for Boehner — "the regular standard, eggs and sausage," Tong said. "That's what he always has."
Boehner has said he gets the sausage because he's not a big fan of Pete's bacon, which turns into little balls after coming out of the deep fryer.
Tong believes Boehner feels at home in Pete's. There's no standing on ceremony. "All of us call him John-John. None of us call him speaker or anything like that," Tong said.
Usually clad in a T-shirt and ball cap, Boehner eats with a circle of regulars. One of them is 85-year-old retired Navy Captain Phillip Bush.
"He's pretty damn normal," Bush said with a laugh.
Politically, Boehner is not quite conservative enough for Bush, who said he occasionally brings up his gripes with the former speaker. Still, Bush has a massive appreciation for Boehner.
At one point, the retired captain asked Boehner to send a get-well card to his older, ailing brother. Boehner obliged with a generous and graceful note.
While Bush is friendly with Boehner, only one person gets the honor of sitting next to him regularly: Rob Poirier, 51, who makes it a rule never to bring up politics.
Rob Poirier sits next to John Boehner most days at Pete's Diner.
"There's other senators and congressman who come in for breakfast in the morning. He talks to them and then comes and sits with me," said Poirier. "That's just how it is."
Poirier said they have a simple relationship. He asks nothing of Boehner and Boehner asks nothing of him. Except for this one time.
Boehner once asked Poirier to help him put together a wardrobe. Boehner, he said, insisted they follow the instructions to the letter. Poirier, who works in construction, just wanted to get the thing put together.
"I give him a hard time about his construction skills," said Poirier. "It was just a lot of fun to be crawling around on the floor with him putting this cabinet together, laughing and having a good time about it."
When Poirier found out Boehner was retiring, he was relieved for his friend. "He would come in in the morning and I'd tell him, 'You look worse than me today.' I think it was time for him. He understood that. I think, he's just tired."
Just in case Boehner ever does decide to double down on his "regular guy" image, Poirier's got him covered. "If he needs a job, we can probably find him something," he said. "We'll give him a hammer and put him to work."
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Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This week, in his final remarks as speaker of the House, John Boehner insisted once again that he's...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOHN BOEHNER: Just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job.
MARTIN: NPR's Will Huntsberry went to Boehner's usual breakfast spot to find out if there really are places where a speaker can be just a normal guy.
WILL HUNTSBERRY, BYLINE: I got to Pete's Diner on Capitol Hill just before the sun came up.
GUM TONG: Good morning. How are you?
HUNTSBERRY: The diner's owner, Gum Tong, says she and her staff have been making the same breakfast for John Boehner as long as she's been there - at least 15 years.
TONG: Regular standard eggs and sausage, that's what he always have.
HUNTSBERRY: What do you call him when he comes in here?
TONG: All of us call him John-John. None of us call him House speaker - never - nobody calls him by that.
TOM MANN: At Pete's, everybody is pretty much on the same level.
HUNTSBERRY: Tom Mann is one of the regulars who just happened to eat their breakfast with the person second in line to be president of the United States.
MANN: When John would come in here, he'd be wearing, like, a T-shirt and a baseball cap. So he was just one of the regular neighborhood guys.
HUNTSBERRY: Eighty-five-year-old retired Navy Capt. Phillip Bush ate with him, too.
PHILLIP BUSH: He's very easy to talk to, and he knows your name after one meeting. He's pretty damn normal (laughter).
HUNTSBERRY: Politically, Bush is a little to the right of Boehner.
BUSH: If I have a political problem, I'll bring it up with him. But I don't usually have that much disagreement with him. I'll miss him being in here, though.
HUNTSBERRY: Why is that?
BUSH: He's sort of a regular here, like me. And, you know, you get to know people.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: No coffee for you?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: No, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: No? Thank you.
HUNTSBERRY: When Boehner comes in, he sits at the end of a long counter, a few seats away from the older guys. He usually sits next Rob Poirier, who makes it a rule not to bring up politics.
ROB POIRIER: There's other senators and congressmen that come in for breakfast in the morning. And, you know, he talks to them and then comes sits with me, so that's how it is.
HUNTSBERRY: Poirier is 51 and works in construction. A tattoo peeks out of the edge of his polo shirt.
POIRIER: We talk about golf and fishing. And he'll ask me, you know, how I am and family and - which is nice. It's good for him; it's good for me.
HUNTSBERRY: When Poirier met Boehner three years ago, he didn't even realize who he was. They just started talking. But Poirier's mom now loves to remind him he's friends with one of the most powerful men in American politics. Poirier says he was relieved when his friend decided to call it quits.
POIRIER: You know, he would come in in the morning and I'd say, you know, you look worse than me today. You know, so I think it was time for him. He understood that. I think he's just tired.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: I'll have the sweet potato pancakes, please.
HUNTSBERRY: Poirier told me about this time when Boehner asked him to come over and help him put together a wardrobe. He says Boehner was a follow-all-the-directions kind of guy. And Poirier just wanted to put the thing together.
POIRIER: I give him a hard time about his construction skills.
HUNTSBERRY: But he says it's moments like that when Boehner is at his best.
POIRIER: It was just a lot of fun to be crawling around, you know, on the floor with him putting this cabinet together and just, you know, laughing and having a good time about it. You know, I told him if he needs a job, we could probably find him something. We'll buy him a hammer and, yeah, put him to work.
HUNTSBERRY: So when Boehner really is ready to just be a regular guy, there's an offer on the table. Will Huntsberry, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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