A New President

Around 10:50 this morning, I heard soft footsteps behind my desk chair. Glenna - my wonderful boss - came running around to gather us all to see Barack Obama's inauguration. She whispered, "Come on, let's go watch history being made!" We went out to the commons area on our floor and I pulled up a chair and got comfortable. Several people on our floor joined us. Unfortunately, we were watching a channel where there was endless news commentary. The talking heads stopped talking long enough for us to see Joe Biden's swearing-in, and then there was more talking, and then Dianne Feinstein came out and we didn't get to hear all that she had to say, since the yapping had continued. Then, there was Chief Justice Roberts and the Lincoln Inaugural Bible and the big moment had arrived.

On a side note, there was a book published in 2005 that suggested that Lincoln might have had lavender leanings. Here's a link to a NY Times Book Review article about it. Interesting stuff. I haven't read the book, so I can't give you a personal review. I heard an interview with the author who wrote the forward on SIRIUS OutQ radio one afternoon and the book sounded interesting.

Personally, I liked the fact that Obama's speech had a more somber tone to it. I didn't want to hear a rah-rah sis-boom-bah speech full of happy talk. These are somber times. Our roommate is filling a vacancy at work for a receptionist position, and she is sifting through almost 400 resumés. Some of the applicants are completely overqualified, but the job market is so tight. A friend told me that her brother was looking for a part-time job and he couldn't even find a vacancy in retail jobs. I walked out of a Kroger grocery store on Saturday because I thought the prices were just too high. I then drove over to Super Walmart and paid what I felt was a more reasonable amount. Normally, I'm not a Walmart shopper, but it was later at night and Super Target (my normal store of choice, especially since it's so close by) was already closed.

My wise and dear friend Cristy published a great blog posting about her thoughts prior to Obama's inauguration. I liked what Obama said about that it wasn't whether or not our government was too big or too small, but whether or not it still worked for us. I admit that I've been cynical and blasé about government, especially during the last eight years, because I didn't think my voice counted for much. Maybe it still doesn't, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to make it heard. I think we all have the responsibility to make our voices heard.