Skip to main content

Happy Inauguration Day!!!

About 15 years ago, I was working for the CIO of our division who recently had gotten promoted to CIO for the corporation. He came to my desk with the Annual Report and showed me the picture of the Senior Executive Team and asked me what was wrong with the picture. I said, "There's no diversity." "Wow!" he said, "I never thought of it that way. I meant to show you that I wasn't in the picture because my promotion hadn't been announced yet. But I see your point. There is all old white men in this picture. I would just be another old white man to add to the group." And yes, he did use the term "old white men". It cracked me up. The next year, he came to me with the picture in the Annual Report. They had hired an African-American woman to be the head of HR and he was in the picture. The funny thing is they had her front and center in the picture too. I teased him that they still needed to do better in diversity than trying to wrap two minority categories into one position.

Where this leads, I am so proud today to see that and old white man is not leading this country. On top of him being African-American (or really biracial, which I think is even better) I feel like I can identify with him as he's only a little older than me, is married and has children my daughter's age. It's also amazing to see the country being so excited about this historic moment. We actually had the Inauguration on at work today in one of the conference rooms that has a TV. I thought he gave an excellent speech and I thought his little flub at the beginning of the swearing in gave authenticity to how nervous I'm sure he was. Everyone is watching him. May God bless him and our country and guide our new president to do what is right.

Comments

Happy Inauguration Day! It's an amazing day. Great story, thanks for sharing.
Jill said…
Hey there-just wanted to drop-in and say hello. Sounds like everything is going well-that's great! I'll be right behind you in maternity clothes. Not sure how much longer I'll be in my own clothes...
Shal said…
Yes, I loved how endearing it was that he was SO nervous! It was such an exciting moment anyway! I'm so happy he's president and can't wait to see all the good things that will happen!
Anonymous said…
Heather,this is your nana,correction on Pres.Oboma didnt make a mistake while saying his oath for office it was Chief Justice John Roberts who made the mistakeand Pres.Obama tryed to follow throu Did you know PRES,Oboma didnt vote for him,2yrs.ago for Chief Justice may be thats why the Justic did that The Pres.Oboma was great XOXO nana
Anonymous said…
Thanks for a beautiful post. I am honored and very grateful for the part you have played in diversifying the Senior Executive Team at your former place of employ.

(I wrote the foll. on another blog--but wanted to share here as well, since it was a summary of my take of the day)
Beyond the historical significance, the whole process -- from the very reverent and peaceful transfer of power, to the swearing in, and especially the prayers (Rick Warren) for a nation.
All these reaffirmed my belief in all that is America-- its unending journey to better itself, to right past and present wrongs and its constant progression toward a more perfect union.
I never take it lightly what a blessed country it is.

Anna

Popular posts from this blog

Bouncing Back From Depression

I've been pretty depressed lately. Monday I hit my all time low, which coincidentally was also my dad's birthday. Needless to say I'm sure I'm on his not favorite child list as I forgot to call him I was so depressed. This whole two mortgage thing with no contract in site is really frustrating. Especially when lots of other houses on our block are selling. Our house is really very lovely, just no pool. It has a really flat backyard perfect for putting a pool in though. Anyway, on Monday, Mom called to make sure I didn't forget to call Dad and tell me she read my blog over the weekend and sent me an email about it. Sorry, Mom, I still have yet to check my emails to see what you had to say. Mom told me I needed to bury a statue of St. Joseph in the yard to get it to sell quicker. Wish I knew that sooner. I was going to wait for her to mail me hers, but yesterday I got really mad at myself and wanted to do something to improve my situation, so I found the nea

Bad Dreams Go Away Magic Spell

Wow! Two posts in one day!!! I just had to blog about this. Indigo Girl had posted about her daughter having bad dreams and looking for advice. I had to post what we do in our house to keep away bad dreams. I have to admit it was one of my most brilliant mommy moments as I pulled this one out of my a$$ when I came up with it. When Phoebe was about 3 or 4 years old, she started complaining about nightmares. I knew it was half true and half stalling for bedtime. She has always been very into witches, wizards and spells (heck she was named after the character on Charmed and my due date was Halloween), so I came up with a magic spell on the spot to keep away bad dreams. I figured all it had to do was rhyme. I will share it with you all and feel free to try it if you need it: Bad dreams, bad dreams go away In Phoebe's dreams she must play She should dream of ice cream and cake Until the morning when she wakes She loves it! She still asks for it sometimes if she's had a ni

Phoebe's Fifth Grade School Picture

Here's Phoebe's 5th Grade School Picture.  I really like her in red or bright colors.  She's definitely becoming quite the little lady.