The American President

5 Thoughts On The Job I'll Never Want
By Pandora Poikilos

The words of John Kennedy best describe the idea of becoming an American President - Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process. With the senate elections around the corner, there is so much under review and of course everyone, everywhere is being bombarded with popularity results. There is always this constant debate about how social media encourages blind followers, that the more 'followers' you have, the more popular you are in the online world. Let me ask you, how is this different from what's happening in the world of politics? Yes, their tools may be different, their budgets certainly much more extensive and of course, they are dressed in better brands but it still comes back to the same point - I need more people behind me. It's alright if they don't really get what I'm doing but I need the numbers to prove it.

But what is it about this job that has so many in a frenzy about getting to it and when they don't, they'll never stop lashing out at the one who did? Is it that mental state of mind in knowing that you have so much power at changing other people's lives or is it just the sheer satisfaction of telling the world, "I have arrived, and it doesn't get any better than this." Because from where I stand, turning it all around, personally, it's a job I'll never go near. Yes, I am that courage-less and here's why.

There's just no pleasing, anyone
Now, ANY decision you make will be so scrutinized, you'll probably never have the comfort of knowing if it was the best thing to do, even if you've given your best shot. For every 100 people who come to you and say, "Thank you. It's just what we needed", you'll have another 200 screaming at you because you've messed up their lives. Bad enough you're affecting citizens of your country, sometimes, you'd need to consider the citizens of another country, diplomatic relations with that country and of course, how all of this has to come together to form - one proper decision. Before coming to a decision, you'd have to put up with the numerous discussions in all forms of media about the decision that you are going to make and when you do, you'll have to put up with even more discussions about how someone else could have done better. Which makes me wonder though, if so many people have such strong, powerful ideas about what to do and how to do it, how come only person ends up winning the race?

So, this is what 'actually' happened
You may be the boss to take the fall, (oh wait, I meant to say, to take responsibility) or to give the final answer but that also makes you a colleague when dealing with so many different situations. Can you imagine what the office politics within the job scope of the president must feel like? Bad enough, some of your 'colleagues' will openly voice out their satisfaction and lack of faith in you, down the line, even after your presidency, you'll have someone publishing a book that provides their version of all the nitty gritties that took place behind the scene. Add to that, you'll have the numerous issues (people) that come with the job. The ones who think leaking military issues is right or the ones who think spending as much as USD4 billion on election campaigns without declaring its sources are in the best interest of the people or even the ones who for every election promise you've honored, whisk out a piece of paper and say, "but there's two more here, you haven't honoured."

But I really feel like ice-cream
I have a huge issue with cravings. No, I'm not pregnant. It's always been like that. It can be 3am and I'll be thinking of this particular brand of orange juice or this particular ice cream flavour. And I know, I'm not the only one. Across the world, there's probably loads of people like me. Even Peas, gets cravings for the weirdest things and he has obviously no pregnancy issues to deal with. Different people. Different cravings. Different food. But we all have these moments when we just have to taste what's running through our heads. What's it like for the family at the White House? Of course, they probably have really great kitchen stocking skills but there's no chance of making that quick dash to the nearest ice cream corner or that even quicker junk food dash. Imagine, even if you could somehow get to the store and someone spots you with junk food, then you'd have probably have to deal with issues that will resemble, the president doesn't support healthy eating.

I'm not human
Becoming president also somehow becomes a silent vow in saying, "I give up being human." You are expected to be the emblem of perfection. No mistakes, no faults, no chance of ever saying, "I need more time". Never mind that everyone has a different sense of this perfection and you'll be expected to live up to each one irrelevant of whether you have a set of your own standards. You will need to perfect the art of being in at least 3 places at once and succeeding in each meet. Having time to yourself means you're being selfish and liking a particular brand means you're being supportive of everything the brand does and stands for. Spending time with the family is a question the world needs to see you answering. It becomes a necessity to some to know what you do with your family, where you go and what you eat or where during these outings. Slip up once, and the world watches.

Keeping it together
There are these few lines in the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling - If you can keep your head when all about you, Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools - which serves as a small idea of what the president's world may seem like. True, it's a job that the president has chosen to get into and must take (gracefully) what comes with it. But for every plan that has been made, more incidents happen outside the circle of planning. Nature will throw a tantrum. Another country will decide to show the world its important. (Wait, is that the other way around?) And yet, there you are. There are no "Dummies Guide to being President" and of course you can't just Google, "Making a the right, best and ideal decision for all." It's just you and how you keep it all together to show the citizens of America and the world, that this is exactly where you're supposed to be.

If I could choose my favourite American presidents, I would divide them into - Presidents Past and Current. For past, I can only stand in awe of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt for their perseverance during such times which would shape so much of the world that we live in today. And for current, it would be Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Bill Clinton, for showing the world, that you may be president of the land of the free but that doesn't make you any less human and any less a family man. And Barack Obama, for reiterating what has been said by so many before him - Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Irrelevant of their political standings and the decisions they make that can sometimes make me raise an eyebrow or two, I'm grateful that there are people like them who stand their ground to take up such a challenge of a job that takes your a lifetime, to finish.