Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary, Catches a Wave Near San Francisco -- on 4/20

Would love to surf the Mavericks, we assume

​Keeping the nation from falling into another Depression is no easy feat, and so U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner deserves a little R&R. And while you might expect Geithner's version of taking a break to be nothing more than reading the financial news, apparently he knows how to hang loose.

The treasury secretary was reportedly spotted this week on the beach in San Mateo County, surfing with his kids -- on 4/20.

According to NBC, Geithner's daughter, Elise, a college student at Stanford, was taking a surf lesson while her father and brother rode the waves nearby. And yes, the men in khakis on the beach were Secret Service.

Dave Alexander, the surf instructor at Open Ocean Surfing, confirmed to reporters that he got a phone call Wednesday morning from Geithner to schedule the lesson, but he didn't realize Geithner was one of the architects of President Barack Obama's economic policies, including the unpopular bank bailouts.

Not until Elise Geithner told him midlesson.

Nearby, her dad showed his athletic side, riding a longboard. Clearly he is still a beginner, Alexander told reporters. Still, it was an impressive sight:
"I've never heard of anybody in his position, at that level, being a surfer," Alexander says. "It's kind of cool."

It is indeed rather cool. But shouldn't Geithner have been at Facebook or in San Francisco, helping the president raise money for his re-election?

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