WORDS WITH MY FRIEND BARACK

Barack Obama plays Words With Friends? Yes!!!
I am saving a place for him on my roster, just in case.

WHITE HOUSE AT NIGHT

WHITE HOUSE AT NIGHT

Barack Obama stays up half the night, according to the New York Times, reading, writing, texting and playing Words With Friends. It’s good to know that he is normal human being who needs time alone to concentrate, to be mindful and also mindless. I suspect that the need for solitary time is uncommon among most politicians. What I learned from years of working on the less glamorous end of the political spectrum is that most people in public office crave attention, respect and power and don’t value solitude.

My mother, who had four kids and a full-time job, used to get up at 4:30 in the morning so that she could read and have a cup of coffee, blessedly alone, before the rest of us awoke. She would have been happy to know that she shared with Barack Obama the need to be by herself and quiet.

The President reserves his time alone at the end of the day. He is reported not only to read a multitude of documents that require concentration, but also to write and revise speeches, text friends, watch ESPN, read novels and—this is unfortunately the only thing he and I have in common in the middle of the night—play Words With Friends. So what about it, Mr. President? WWF is neither mindful nor mindless and I’m betting that unlike these past eight years, you’ll have an easier time winning against me than against Congress.

 

 

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About Alexis

Alexis Rankin Popik, author of Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate, is an award-winning short story writer whose work has appeared in The Berkshire Review and Potpourri Magazine. She has penned numerous articles about local history that have been published in Connecticut Explored and the University of Connecticut School of Law and The Hartford Seminary publications. A former union organizer, Popik traveled the country educating shipyard workers about health and safety and founded a labor-management health plan before turning to writing fiction full-time. She lives with her husband in New England.
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