Steve Jobs is Mocking Obama

This blog is not a place I intend to voice my political opinions. As we get closer and closer to the elections next year, something might slip but I'm going to try very hard to not let that happen. And if it does, I hope to be very diplomatic in my delivery.

With that said, I am going to mention when I'm given an amazing opportunity. Yesterday, President Obama was on my college campus to address jobs and student loan concerns. Whispers spread through campus on Monday that tickets were only available for students and that they would be given away Wednesday morning. Luckily, I had the brains to ask around and verify these facts rather than trust the masses. It turns out, tickets were indeed only available to students with a valid college ID and I would have to show up early Tuesday morning to wait in line to retrieve them. So....I made Anna wake up early!

Anna, perfect child that she is, waited in line with me for two hours so I could get tickets for Sergej and I. Sergej took yesterday off work and dropped Anna off at school while I braved the snow to hold our spot in line. We got amazing seats thanks to showing up early and I was able to bring my camera along.

President Obama gave his speach in the Auraria Events Center, which is essentially the basketball court. He spoke a little of jobs, but mostly addressed new laws taking effect next year that will provide some relief to students that have to take out loans to pay for their college education (ahem, ME.)

Here is a photo I snapped during the speech:

Pretty great, eh? As much as I enjoyed the speech and the energy that filled the gymnasium, the strongest commentary I have from the day is for what is going on in this photo:

I get that we are a digital society and if I were that close to the president I would probably have my camera and/or phone up to take a photo, too. That isn't a problem for me. The problem I have is with the lady (and others like her) that is standing directly in front of the president. Her phone is in his face and she is snapping a photo instead of shaking his hand and saying hello in the very brief moment she had a chance to. I watched Obama during his exit and he moved right along the line, shaking hands and saying hello, but never really pausing because he didn't have time to. It is my opinion that when you have the opportunity to express gratitude, approval, disapproval, sadness, or whatever emotion you might feel toward any particular president, you seize that opportunity and take your photo while he is shaking the hand of the person next to you. That woman is going to show her friends the extraordinarily close-up photo she got of the president and they will indeed be impressed. But when they ask her, "What did you say to him?" she will have nothing but a blank stare to give back. At least, that is what I imagine will happen.

We are so plugged in that we forget to actually engage in what surrounds us. Put down your phone next time something incredible is happening around you. Your phone can break. It can get stolen. The photos can accidentally be deleted. But your memories will last you almost as long as your body. And if you have kids and grandkids to pass those memories down to, they'll last even longer.