Perfecting art of looking cool

By Warren Gamble

They're big, they're armed, and when standing around in front of crowds for a job is everything, they perfect the art of looking cool.

For US President Bill Clinton's Secret Service bodyguards, coolness seems to be a prerequisite for the role - wearing the smoothest suits, the most stylish sunglasses, the shiniest shoes, the best-fitting earpieces.

But above all it means standing, hands clasped - behind the back or in front - looking as if they do not have a care in the world when in their care is one of its most powerful leaders.

Somehow as they scan the crowds they make not smiling look almost natural. In contrast, their New Zealand plainclothes counterparts look like they try too hard, favouring a forced unsmilingness.

It has been a pretty cruisy ride for the 30 or so visible presidential minders so far during Apec, but they have flexed their muscles, no matter how imperceptibly.

Shortly after Mr Clinton arrived at the Stamford Plaza hotel in downtown Auckland on Saturday, one of the less intimidating black four-wheel-drives was parked in a side-street when a New Zealand police officer tapped on the dark window. It slid down two millimetres - just enough to glimpse a helmeted, chisel-jawed man.

Ah, could the vehicle be moved back a bit? asked the officer. The jaw moved sideways and back, the window slid up, the vehicle remained.

Then there was the towering black American bodyguard who left the lobby and recognised a local police officer. Out went a huge hand; the crack as it made contact could be heard 20m away.

To his credit, the New Zealander did not wince.