"Why Yes" I replied as I handed a black leash with silver studs over to the older man, his hair graying, his eyes still twinkled with his lost youth. He was slender and well kept and as he walked away with my black and white short haired mutt I couldn't help but notice that he seemed to glide silently through the white house halls.
The duties of the presidency keep me from many of the small pleasures in life, walking the dog being one of them. In the same breadth it also saves me from the horrible task of picking up Radman poo off the white house lawn.
Being president would be the life! Man am I glad I live in the country I would hate to have to pick up dog poo everyday... my thoughts shifted as my daydream came to an end. I patted Radman on the head while sitting on the porch steps of our single wide trailer. I had seen on television that people in the city picked up their dog's poo as soon as they went, but here in the desolate country side of New Mexico such a chore was unheard of. We had 5 acres for the dogs to poop on and it only took a few weeks for nature to run its course and it to would fade into the dirt. Of course that left a lot of land mines to be mindful of when running around outside.
That was the 5th grade. I had a dog named Radman whom I loved dearly and who I thought would live as long as I did. I had decided I was going to be an attorney and then somehow magically become the first girl to be president. My teacher Mrs. Sutton was not a PTA favorite, she smoked during recess and would sometime have a slip of the tongue and swear during class. But I liked her.. mostly because she made me feel like I could be anything. I was going to be president and I was going to be a great lawyer. I was going to make a difference.
I have no idea what happened to Mrs. Sutton; and Radman died like my dream of being president.
With age comes wisdom and my dream of being president was short lived. I came to realize that Presidents get made fun of a lot and no matter what choice they make they are wrong in someone's eyes. And even at 11 I knew I hated being teased and I liked being right.
As for being a lawyer, I didn't hold on to that dream long either. It would pop up from time to time but ultimately I either don't have a passion for it or realistically I didn't want to put in the work to get there. I have had people tell me I would make a great lawyer. My brother said I would because he could never beat me in an argument. If he has I have blocked it out. I had a law professor tell me I would because I have a passion for justice. This is true, but I just don't think my passion for justice is strong enough to push me through law school and boards.
Even now I don't feel drawn to be either.
