President Obama and me

Yesterday we were considering President George (Herbert Walker) Bush (1988-1992) -- his phrase "kinder and gentler."

When I thought about Kinder And Gentler, I remembered that in my current workplace, and once in a former workplace, I was --
criticized for
accused of
...being "too nice."

One guy, whom I did not ask, said, "If you ask me, you're too nice."
Two others that I can think of off the top of my head, said, "You're too nice," also.

Then one weekend ago I was listening to a comedic discussion on the Comedy Channel. Several people were talking facetiously about how they were going to put together a panel to debate something. They were naming people they would invite to be on the panel and the reasons for asking them -- all in fun -- and the last guy to speak said, "And if we want to get somebody who's way too nice to everybody, we can call Barack Obama."

I considered / savored that comment several times since.
President Obama and I are criticized for the same thing -- being "too nice." Or in his case, "way too nice."

The leader of the free world and I have something else in common, too. A couple of weeks ago, now, I read an article about pop culture and Obama -- it said when the president was asked what he has in his i-pod, he began his answer with, "About 30 Bob Dylan songs."

I don't have an i-pod. But Dylan is one of my favorites.