sub get {
  my ($self, @keys) = @_;
  my @values = $self->SUPER::get(@keys);

  foreach (@values) {
    # if $_ is an object, 
    #  and it is not a Class::DBI object
    #  and it overloads ""
    if (UNIVERSAL::isa($_, 'UNIVERSAL') &&
       !UNIVERSAL::isa($_, 'Class::DBI') &&
       overload::Method($_,'""')) {
      $_ = "$_";  # stringify the object
    }
  }
  return shift @values if @keys == 1;
  return @values;
}