Whatever you want to say about Sen. Charles Grassley, he’s an American original. Chuck never has been afraid to speak his mind. And sometimes that means, you’re not sure what the heck he’s talking about.
Recently, Bryan Metzger of Insider, Inc. followed up on one of Grassley’s more peculiar comments. Back in 2014, Grassley was in Windsor Heights and tweeted, “Windsor Heights Dairy Queen is good place for u kno what.” And in 2015, he tweeted, “I’m at the Jefferson, Iowa DairyQueen doing ‘You know what’”.
First of all, it is probably necessary to explain Grassley’s odd literary stylings. You see…well, maybe I’d better let him explain. “I like to be on the forefront of technology that I can use to better serve Iowans,” he wrote while offering tips on how to use Twitter. He became exasperated with critics of his Twitter prose. “Quit complaining,” he tweeted, “abt my Twitter shorthand I know how to spell. But Twitter limit is 120 characters.”
This clarifies his tweets: “I now h v an iphone.” And “Evrybody asking how Romney ‘relates’to avg person Me thinks ‘no problem’ but if so I hv answer ‘just lv starch out of shirt’”.
Also, Grassley has his little obsessions—like the History Channel. It turns out he hates the History Channel because he loves history and he feels the channel suffers from a lack of it. He tweeted, “I turn to History channel frequently be I like history. There is nevr any history unless u r an antique dealer. Change name!” Maybe Grassley has the right to pull rank on the History Channel because at 89, when it comes to history, he’s been there. He was born during the Great Depression and has lived in Iowa more than half the time Iowa has been a state.
Grassley’s other obsession is Dairy Queen. Keep in mind, Chuck is a multimillionaire and he could easily afford the high-priced stuff. But he has a thing for DQ and it seems he’s a little cagey about it. When he tweets that he’s in a Dairy Queen doing “you know what”, it makes you think that it’s not what you think. If anybody else has written that, a person’s imagination would be running wild. But when Grassley hints coyly he’s doing “you know what” at the Dairy Queen, you know what he’s doing. He later explained to ACB5 reporter Samanthna-Jo Roth, “I meant this, I’m at Dairy Queen, Windsor Heights…and doing you know what. And what do you do at Dairy Queen? You eat Dairy Queen.” What else would you be doing?
Still, being a hard-nosed reporter, Mr. Metzger had to see for himself. While he knew Grassley typically indulges in a DQ Snickers Blizzard, Metzger admitted, “I didn’t feel like going that far.” Even though it was a freezing cold April day in Windsor Heights, he opted for a cherry-dipped cone which arrived a bit lop-sided but “tasted pretty good.” Maybe Metzger can’t claim to have walked a mile in Grassley’s well-traveled shoes, but now he can honestly say he’s been to the DQ, doing you know what.