White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, on her last day on the job Thursday, outlined for reporters the 10 things she said she will miss the least. "These are the top 10 things I personally will not miss," she said:
10. Helen Thomas. (To which the longtime UPI White House correspondent shot back, "I thought I'd be at the top of the list.")9. Air Force One food.
8. 24-hour-a-day paging, late-night phone calls and those early-morning baggage calls.
7. The soft, quiet and reflective questioning of Sarah McClendon (a reporter for the McClendon News Service and the second-longest tenured White House reporter behind Thomas).
6. The fact that my busy social calendar has made it often difficult to get back to the president and to all of you - busy returning those phone calls.
5. Bureau chiefs, editors and especially headline writers.
4. The ongoing and breathtaking attention span of certain network correspondents, who can simultaneously question and do crossword puzzles. (Reference to ABC White House reporter Brit Hume).
3. That daily crush to make it to my briefing on time so as not to miss the opening (Myers was late on a daily basis for her scheduled briefings.).
2. Did I mention Helen Thomas?
1. Finally, the No. 1 thing that I will not miss: All of this.
She added, "That's only half true."