Burchett wisdom: gals don’t like motorcycles in the kitchen – and other hard-learned life lessons

Alan Carmichael and Tim Burchett at Farragut Chamber breakfast Tuesday

At least with state Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, in the race for Knox County mayor, the meetings and speeches won’t be boring. Burchett cracked up a breakfast meeting of the Farragut/West Knox Chamber Tuesday at Fox Den Country Club with his self-deprecating humor. Here are some samples:

• Burchett: “I asked my wife, Allison, ‘Honey, in your wildest dreams, did you ever think we would be running for Knox County mayor?’ And she said, ‘Tim, you aren’t in my wildest dreams.”
• Seeing Mike Such, CEO of Junk Bee Gone, in the audience, Burchett joked for him to stay away from Tim’s wife lest she hire Such’s company to come haul away Burchett’s junk. “Only in my case,” he insisted, “it would be ‘Museum Bee Gone,’ because my stuff is VALUABLE!”
• Burchett: “One thing I’ve learned about females: they don’t like motorcycles in the kitchen.”
• Buchett: “I know how to compromise. I compromise with my wife all the time. I say, ‘Yes, dear.'”
• A newlywed, Burchett revealed, “Nothing’s too good for my baby.” Then he admitted he took her to the Mr. Gatti’s buffet for Valentine’s Day.

In all seriousness, though, Burchett said that he is “not flashy and not a good speaker, but if I tell you I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.” He said several times that as mayor, he would stand for “no frills” and “back to basics.”

And he is surely the most modest politician I’ve ever seen. Rather than brag on himself, he advised, “If you want to find out anything about me, get your young grandchildren to Google me – and about a third of it will be right!”

Knox County’s primary elections are May 4. The general election is Aug. 5. Some people say former sheriff Tim Hutchison will oppose Burchett, but Hutchison has not yet committed to the race.

Mike Arms, Brad Anders and Allison Burchett at Farragut Chamber breakfast Tuesday