I received a call from a regional recruiter/fundraiser from my Alma Mater who wanted to meet with me while he was in town and with my husband and my daughters, both of whom are alumnae.

Since I now have a grand daughter who will be attending the school in the Fall I did not think it wise to blow him off.

But we knew ahead of time that his visit with us was not going to net him a big fish or allow us naming rights to a new campus dorm. Or even a table in the cafeteria as in the little bronze plaque attached to the side reading, 'the funds for this table (but not the chairs) have been most generously donated by Patricia Thomas.'

My husband, ever hospitable, asked me before our meeting if we should ask him, the representative, to lunch. I hesitated, "What if we don't really like him?" I threw out for discussion.

Have I told you how intelligent my husband is? Here is just one more example. Jim said that we could evaluate this guy's likability and if either of us felt like we would like to invite him to lunch we should weave a password into the conversation. That way we would know what the other was thinking without having to have a side conversation or furtive raised eyebrows as a signal.

Jim picked out the clue word. If either of us wanted to continue our conversation with this guy over lunch we should find a way to use the word Odessa in the conversation.

My husband, intelligent but not practical.

And that's what I think about it.