Which Way Points the Thumb?
The president just flew over my Edgewater home.
The roar of his chopper and his flying armada filled the sky for minutes prior to his arrival above, filling my chest with a sense of imminence. And then they appeared, majestic and aloft, somewhat staggered in their flight plan, immediately overhead and slowly making their way east in the direction of the lake front.
The cat and I, situated on the back porch to get some early morning work done, had slightly different responses. The copter’s droning sound caused her to drop a half-eaten bug and dash up the steps with her ears laid back on her small head, filled with terror. Me, just seeding my listings on craigslist, set down my macbook and went up another half flight to wave. As I waved and gave President Obama a thumbs up from the ground I think I saw him doing the same from a few hundred feet up.
Thumbs up!
A simple gesture linking people or groups. Nothing profound, just a gentle reminder of the intertwining nature of our lives and the fact that by working together we may reach our common goals. Not only reach goals more easily, but reach them at all, have a chance.
Amid the current environment where acrimony has displaced civility I would be thrilled if the thumbs up became our chief domestic product, replacing cynicism with a clear-eyed realism that the ceiling is too low when we stand in opposition simply for the sake of opposition.
Bottom line, I suppose, is if we fail to come together on some of this stuff the only true use of the thumb for most people will be to flick it out as they try to hitch a ride out of town.
Thumbs down on that.
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