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INAUGURATION QUESTIONS AND ADVICE
Published On 01-11-2009 , 9:14 AM
We're counting down the days and there aren't that many left before Brandi and I head for the historical inauguration ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama.
Readers have posed some interesting questions since I announced, here in the column last week, this opportunity that came our way when Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, honored my request for tickets to the event.
"Well, and what favors do you now owe the congressman?" asked one reader of this column who, once I'd answered, claimed she was only joking. Maybe!
But then I heard the same nonsense from other people which by then led me to believe, as is often the case, there's a lot of truth in a "joke."
In my youth there was a phrase: "crackin' but fackin'." Even if this isn't still being used, the concept remains intact.
As far as I know, Shirlee Smith's e-mailed request to the congressman's office was handled like the thousands of others that showed up in his e-mail file and some got selected (by what means?) and others did not.
Let's get real. Exactly what might the man want from me? Contributions to his campaign war chest? He's managed to be elected over the years without the meager amount of money I might have donated so I suggest to all who might be concerned this most certainly was not part of his selection process when it came to me.
The next troublesome inquiry I get is who is paying for this trip. Travel is expensive I keep hearing and then comes the reminder
that places to stay in the capital by now, are going for $1,000 and more per night.
And don't forget, I'm told, meals, souvenirs and events are going to cost plenty. On this getting-in-my-business track, I'm reminded the economy is tight and since I preach teaching our children the value of money I need to think about the kind of precedent I am setting and the lesson I am not teaching.
And there's my sister on the East Coast who wants to make sure if I don't own a fur coat that I have a friend who will lend me one.
And finally, lots of questions as to which inaugural ball Brandi and I will be attending and what gowns we will be wearing.
This is not a rags-to-riches trip to the ceremony. This is a rags-to-rags, food-stamp budget operation. I'm the same no-money head of household I've always been.
My philosophy stands intact: If your kids learn money doesn't buy everything they want and if they bypass the trivia, bigger things are in store for them. There will be no trinkets purchased, no events attended - including balls that we don't have the wardrobe for.
I don't know which of my friends own fur coats and I wouldn't borrow one, anyway. But my friend in Mendocino who spent years teaching in China where the temperature reaches sub-zero is sending me her down jacket that will serve the same purpose of the fur coat my sister thought I should sport.
Take warm clothes, Brandi's friend, county Supervisor Mike Antonovich reminded us. Yup, Brandi is borrowing some stuff from her nephews who live in Colorado who reminded her layering was the trick.
For us, this is a trip of a lifetime and the purpose is history, to keep warm, to keep on budget, breathe deeply and to pretend the ticketed crowd of 240,000 people we'll be seated with aren't really there.
I thank readers for all of the absurd comments and most importantly, I thank those who wanted to make sure we understood we were leaving the Golden State and keeping warm should be at the top of our agenda.
This blog can be found in our columns section where you can print a copy or e-mail to someone
http://talkaboutparenting.org/pages/articles.php
 Tune-in Wednesdays Noon to 1:00 p.m. Talk Abut Parenting with Shirlee Smith LIVE Call-in at 626- 794-2116 or 794-2551. PCAC Charter Channel 56 in Pasadena. Return to our home page and click the red television for streaming. See our calendar listing for further details
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Comment
| | 1. | Shirlee,
I simply cannot believe the B.S. you're having to go through over attending the most historical Inaugural for those of us who believe in :Black Pride". It a;so makes me guilty for not going. See, though we have SEVEN or EIGHT tickets, and could have had more if we had asked our Congressman for some. We got ours from elsewhere. and, we were offered more.
Why? Well, for one, both my wife Wyllene and I have been very, very active in Barack Obama's campaign for more than 18 months. Dozens of the Obama folk stayed at our house in Savannah, during the strategic months, when Barack was establishing his bona fides during the primary campaign when Hillary Clinton was throwing those heavy "body blows". We even drove up to Charlotte, N.C. and did field work for a week before their Primary.
To say we "earned it", with hard work and loyalty and faith, would not be an overstatement.
As to attending the Balls and stuff, Wyllene is gonna be there, and she'll be wearing her full length mink. And, she'll be wearing one of her gowns, or maybe one of those awesome black and white pants suit thingees that she looks so good in. She "earned" the opportunity. And, she loves that kind of stuff. Me. on the other hand, I've never been that big on them. I've had the opportunity to be at 5 or 6. I've never attended a single swearing in ceremony, but I've gone to several balls. I've had my "celebration" for the history of it all.
The point is, being able to choose NOT to go, is an honor. Belittling someone who chooses to go is juvenile, at least, chicken stuff, at the worst.
So, you go on girlfriend....represent us well
- by Hank Wilfong, 01-11-2009, 3:29 PM
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