Today I read an article about President Obama having to work on vacation. (See it here.) Apparently, our nation's president didn't get to relax much over the Christmas holiday. And the Associate Press seems to think I should feel sorry for him. Well, I don't. Heaven forbid he earn his living. Here's what our family vacations were like growing up.
The road trip
Mom: Every one has to be quiet. Dad has a conference call.
Kids in back trying to sleep or do anything to pass the hours of driving to the tune of Dad checking voicemails, solving problems, and averting small disasters.
The cruise
Child #1: Where's Dad?
Mom: In the internet cafe.
Child #2: What's he doing?
Mom: Working.
The beach trip
Mom: Turn the TV down and close the door. Dad is on a conference call.
Child #3 or 4: When will he be done?
Mom: In a couple hours.
Downstairs...
Child # 3 or 4: Child #1 wake up! We want to play with you. Dad is working.
We had fabulous family vacations. We've seen amazing parts of the world and spent quality family time together. I use these examples merely to illustrate that there is no reason to feel sorry for a man who works or his family. How could we possibly expect the President or anyone else in charge of protecting and running a country, business, or organization not to be on call and available to deal with issues on an as needed basis? The implied tone of this article that anyone should feel sorry for the President of the United States because he had to deal with a terrorist plot over the Christmas holiday is simply ludicrous.
Point 1: Yes, I agree that someone with that much responsibility doesn't get any real time off.
ReplyDeletePoint 2: But I was always frustrated and disappointed when my step-dad would be working on family vacations, yelling at us to shut up when we were trapped in the car driving somewhere during his several-hour-long teleconferences. Obviously your parents handled work and vacation much better than mine did.
Hi Meg. I have nothing intelligent to add. Just wanted to say hello. Oh, and remember our cowboy cookie party last year?! I do. The end.
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