I thought this was a joke
when I first heard about it. I thought it was just some made-up story designed to make Romney look bad, but apparently it's actually legit.
The white Chevy station wagon with the wood paneling was overstuffed with suitcases, supplies, and sons when Mitt Romney climbed behind the wheel to begin the annual 12-hour family trek from Boston to Ontario.
As with most ventures in his life, he had left little to chance, mapping out the route and planning each stop. The destination for this journey in the summer of 1983 was his parents' cottage on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Romney would be returning to the place of his most cherished childhood memories.
. . .
Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.
Then Romney put his boys on notice: He would be making predetermined stops for gas, and that was it.
The ride was largely what you'd expect with five brothers, ages 13 and under, packed into a wagon they called the ''white whale.''
As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.
As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.
I'm not sure what is more disturbing; that Romney strapped the family pet to the roof of his car for a twelve-hour highway road trip, or the fact that the reporter thought this story was an excellent way to introduce a profile of the guy.
Note to reporters: Cool-headed crisis management is more impressive when you're not responsible for creating the easily foreseeable crisis to manage.
Strapping the family pet to the car's roof was an amusing anecdote for National Lampoons, but is normally preceded by the warning for other people to not try it themselves. I mean, what kind of cruel bastard would treat their family pet that way?
Oh well. if his Presidential campaign doesn't work out, he can always apply for CEO of Air Canada.
