Now, Again, Who Did You Say You Were?

It's a long way down, but when you've been irrlevant for two years anyway ....

It was open house at Pershing Elementary this morning, a time when neighborhood parents in the Preston Hollow area check out the public school prospects for their children.

But the day's most prominent visitors didn't have any kids in tow. Only Secret Service.

George and Laura Bush have mostly been rumors and fleeting glimpses through the passenger windows of black Suburbans the last few weeks. But the kids got a first-hand look this morning when their new neighbors took a tour.

The Bushes were scheduled to visit three classes, but they ended up popping in on any room with an audience.

Ducking in one room, Bush asked, "Hey kids, do you know who I am?"

Gasps all around, and then someone blurted, "George Washington!"

"That's right!" the visitor said. "George Washington Bush!"

Well, the middle initial was the same, anyway.

A little later, at an ESL class, Bush tried introducing himself in Spanish. Only it was a little too West Texas for the Spanish speakers. He tried again. Blank looks. Even held up three fingers. You know, a 'W." Still nothing.

Finally, Pershing's innovative, energetic principal, Margie Hernandez, stepped in with a Spanish introduction.

Ohhhhhhh.

The kids laughed at the confusion. The former president laughed. The principal laughed, out of relief, mostly.