Until 1988, the League of Women Voters had organized and moderated the Presidential Debates as an independent 3rd party. They were responsible for moderation, selection of questions, location, and other details related to the debates. The only thing the candidates had to do, was show up. In 1987, the Democratic and Republican Party then jointly created a non-profit organization called the Commission on Presidential Debates. This commission secretly created a contract called a memorandum of understanding that decided which candidates would participate in the debates, which individuals would be panelists capable of asking questions, who could be in the audience… even the height of the podiums!

It was December 24th, 2000. I was working as a Team Coordinator (Team Lead) at a Call Center at the wise old age of 17 years old. I thought I was a pretty great guy, and a pretty awesome supervisor. The utter turmoil of the call center I was working in was such that, despite me being a “Team” Coordinator, I had no actual team. I was really more of a general floor supervisor – meant to police individuals who weren’t taking phone calls, and look for people who were on perma-break.

Warning: This article is really only relevant to you if you’ve seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) and have a reasonable memory of it. Ever since I saw Fried Green Tomatoes many moons ago, I considered it one of my semi-favorite movies. Probably not in my top 10, but definitely in my top 20. However, something has always bothered me about it. The primary character of Fried Green Tomatoes is Idgie Threadgoode.