Loud American rock and roll music overpowered the faint smell of cigarette smoke inside the pub. Locals and tourists mingled amongst each other in the jovial atmosphere. Somehow I found myself at a table with some Virginia natives, a local, Canadians, and some Brazilians. We all toasted to America and the particular local brew which we were consuming at the time.
A few British girls I met the night before showed back up at the pub with a few new friends. One of them was a tall African-American named Mike. Mike is a cool dude. I came to know him pretty well over a couple drinks, or so I thought. Large in stature, I asked if he had played football. Indeed he had. He attended a Pac-10 school and even sacked an old teammate of mine who is now in the NFL. He was even on the field for A.J. Green's coming out game in 2008. After a brief two year stint in the NFL Mike got a job with a ubiquitous newspaper syndicated worldwide. He wrote for the leisure and sports section which allowed him to travel all over the world. At some point he was going back to London where he would cover the Olympics with his all access media pass. Unfortunately, Mike couldn't hook a brother up.
Mike turned away from the bar, spoke a few words to the British girls, and then darted up the stairs. One of them came up to me and said he just showed them his Secret Service badge. Thinking this guy bought some plastic toy badge to pick up chicks, I decided to call him out.
Those girls weren't playing and Mike wasn't a writer. Sure enough when I asked him if it was true he discreetly opened his wallet and before my eyes was a genuine United States Secret Service badge. It was unreal. I immediately felt ten times safer in his presence. He asked me to help keep his cover and not reveal to the other agents in the pub that I knew who they were. One even introduced himself and when I asked him what he did for a living, he said he was a flight attendant. Not a good cover story considering this guy was about 6' 3" and jacked. Walking up and down the aisle of an airplane cabin would be a nightmare for this guy.
Turning back to Mike I asked if this outing was for leisure or work. Work, he said, always for work. Pretty good answer when work entails protecting American interests. His colleagues and him were traveling to cities in Europe where some anti-american activities were rumored to be culminating. It was their duty to investigate and report, all the while keep their true identities concealed. Mike was indeed going to the Olympics but would be carrying an all-access security card which he said was basically a key to the city. I suppose working for the government does have its benefits.
And like that the agents were gone. My previous encounters with Secret Service was at my brothers graduation from Air Force. They were in suits with ear pieces and MP5s bulging from their coats. This lot were more unassuming. The exact opposite of the stereotype but then again that was the whole point. Duty called for them to observe and report inconspicuously. I have been shown a tiny facet of the American security apparatus and it was amazing. There's a reason why we are the world's foremost superpower and it's because Americans such as the ones I met dedicate their lives to protecting the homeland.
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