Cheeseburger, please: Colin Powell ushers in era of less luxurious tastes
WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (AFP) -
From Hiltons to Holiday Inns and chateaubriand to cheeseburgers, US embassy staff hosting their secretary of state abroad
will soon face a sea change in the taste of their honored guest.
Gone soon will be the luxury hotels and fine cuisine that marked a visit from Madeleine Albright as retired general Colin Powell takes the helm of US diplomacy, bringing with him a soldier's penchant for simple basics.
"I'm an easy visitor," Powell said Thursday in a morale-building address to the diplomatic corps that sought to ease any
nervousness embassy staff abroad might have on learning of imminent official "secstate" travel.
"To save a lot of cable traffic: I have no food preferences, I have no drink preferences," Powell said, referring to the blizzard of urgent departmental notes that precede a secretary of state's overseas visits.
"A cheeseburger will be fine," he said to laughter from his audience of foreign service officers who must often frantically
arrange meals and lodging on extremely short notice in often obscure international locations.
"I like Holiday Inns," he said to groans from State Department reporters used to the fringe benefits of Albright's penchant for staying in five-star hostelries such as the Excelsior in Rome and the Oriental in Bangkok.
"I don't want to be a burden when I come to visit," Powell said to applause.
But US diplomats scattered around the four corners of the globe need not worry about preparing for a Powell trip in the immediate future as he wants to settle in at State Department headquarters first.
"I'll start traveling in due course," he said. "I'm going to stick close to home until we get our sea legs."
[This message has been edited by Ripsnort (edited 01-26-2001).]
