Obama on marriage: ‘Do whatever she tells you'

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President Barack Obama, marriage counselor?

The president stopped at the Kozy Corners diner in Oak Harbor, Ohio, on Thursday for what political campaigns dub an "OTR"—an "off the record" event that isn't on the formal schedule—and doled out a bit of marriage advice.

"Just do whatever she tells you to," Obama told a man sitting with his wife at a table during a brief chat about what makes a good marriage. The president's words were collected by The New York Times reporter Mark Landler, the print "pool reporter."

Obama settled in at a table with former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and dug into a burger, fries and a tall iced tea. "All right, I'm going to eat my burger," he said to the other diners, "and everybody just pretend like I'm not here." The pool report was mum on whether the president's fellow diners at the cash-only restaurant managed to tune out his presence, not to mention that of the media phalanx accompanying him. Obama had a few other interactions with locals. In the parking lot, he took an interest in a young boy's spiked, blue-tipped hair.

"I like that hair, man. I was thinking of getting some hair just like it," Obama said, touching the boy's head. "What do you put in there to make it spiky? Product?"

The boy didn't spill his secret, according to the pool report, but shook the president's hand.

Inside, the president chatted with Kim Weis, an emergency-room nurse at Magruder Hospital who told him she was a grandmother. Obama responded that she looked too young to be a grandmother.

"I love nurses," Obama said. "Can I tell you: You look great. This is a good-looking woman."

A little boy approached the president and asked him to sign a dollar bill. Obama demurred, telling the kid that it's a crime to sign money.