Like many of his predecessors, President Obama flung open the gates of The White House yesterday and welcomed the public into their house. It's sad that many don't seem to have appreciated it.
I spent a little over a year working at The White House. I can honestly say that though the hours were long and the pay not the greatest, I appreciated every minute I spent there. There was history everywhere I turned. From the Vice President's ceremonial office, to the Roosevelt Room where President Roosevelt's Nobel Prize resides, to The Rose Garden- every step could be where the greatest leaders our country's known have trod.
....and we got eggs, too. I'll never forget how tightly the wooden eggs were guarded- and how they ensured that everybody got 1 egg and no more. Whether an Assistant to the President, Deputy Assistant or mid-level staffer, you got one egg. I laughed when I first learned of the egg-straordinary quantity control measures involved in the egg distribution process, but when I went to get mine I learned it was no laughing matter. Photo ID, please. Sign here beside your name for your egg, please.
I've looked at my little egg every now and then- as with many other mementos. No laughing about the egg or egg security details now, though: hindsight assures me that the egg's a reminder of a special time in my life, and a special opportunity I was blessed to have. One person, one egg- as intended. The eggs were special.
So what happened? How are they not special anymore? And is it the eggs that are no longer special, or is it that the folks getting them no longer find our White House special? Or our president special...or a rare opportunity to fellowship with them both special? Doesn't it- shouldn't it mean something?
It doesn't to everyone- especially the owners of the 331 (at last count) White House Easter Egg items listed on eBay. "Rare White House Easter Egg" for $3, "White House Easter Egg Gift Bag" and all it's contents spread out for the highest bidder (starting bid $.99, of course).
That may be well and good for many- and some folks' attitudes are no doubt owing to their being of a particular political persuasion or thoughts of this particular president, rather than thoughts of The White House or what it represents.Not for me, though. I may have switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican one a number of years ago, but nobody's getting my little White House Easter Egg.
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