Yes, It Bugs Me Too

Morgan over at House of Eratosthenes takes the time to write about a thing the Obamas do that is enough to drive one whacko.

Here you are, doing your thing….eating right, exercising, using birth control or not, buying health insurance.
And there they are telling you….”that’s good…follow me to learn how to eat right”,
“see what a good exercise guru I’ve hired? I see you’re listening”,
“Now be sure to use that free birth control” and
“I know it can be inconvenient and confusing and even a little expensive to buy insurance, but I’ve made a law now, so you be sure to buy that insurance.”

Morgan sums it pretty nicely:

This late in the game, Barack Obama has come to represent, to me, an emblem of the bossy little seven-year-old who is constantly issuing these proclamations and orders, with great confidence, since He has not so much a shred of uncertainty about any of them…but He lacks the uncertainty about them because there’s never been any necessity for Him to question anything. Has Barack Obama been stuck on the side of the road with a bent chain on His bicycle? Had to take His computer apart because the floppy drive wasn’t working right? Don’t make me laugh.
He lives in that enviable world, although I do not envy it even a little bit — in which each item therein either is readily understood in form & function with only casual thought applied, or else it’s dumb & stupid. You bark an order at it, and hopefully it’ll shape up its shit.

I went to a Pechakucha in town this weekend. They can be very fun. One of the presenters did a deal on her deciding to take her skills at knitting, forming a club, and knitting hats/scarves for the homeless.

Yes, it was a good deed and probably appreciated. What drove me nuts was the “look at me, aren’t I good” aspect of the 6 minutes. I can’t tell you how many times she used the terms “joining her in social change” and “community outreach” with powerpoints of her and her group around town knitting. I go to a tiny, tiny church who has a group of crafters who do similar things with their skills and I can’t imagine them going on about it like this woman did.

I berate myself as just mean and bitchy because perhaps by talking, this woman will get more volunteers while the church stays small. I don’t know, but it’s crazy making and Morgan comes close to nailing it. It’s like this woman is saying….”look, volunteering is good. You should volunteer and do things like I’m doing.” People volunteer all over the freaking place already without your telling us to.