Micro-fiction Piece

Run to Stand Still

Painting: Run to Stand Still

8 x 8 / oil on panel

Artist: Lisa Rae Winant

Patrick returned home from a taxing day at the office. He worked as an assistant to the CEO of a large company and his job description could be summed up in two words: “office slave.” Monday through Friday, nine to five, you could find Patrick bustling in, out, and around the office; running errands for the CEO and anyone else that needed a hand. Patrick was the best in the business. He memorized all the top clients and business partners’ phone numbers by heart and had everyone’s e-mail addresses perfectly organized in an online address book. He made sure to update important information the second he received it and never had a “to-do-pile” of papers on his desk. Patrick was efficient, friendly, and organized; everything a CEO would want in his assistant.

Patrick had worked as an assistant to the CEO for ten years. The pair became great friends inside and outside the office, but Patrick was starting to feel under appreciated and under paid. After ten years of hard work, Patrick was hoping to get a promotion, or at least a hefty raise. Unfortunately for Patrick, none of these things occurred. Three years passed since the ten-year anniversary of Patrick’s assistant position, and he continues to “bust his rump” for the same CEO. Sometimes when we work extra hard and run ourselves into the ground, doesn’t it feel like we are standing still and not receiving the recognition we deserve?

My Impassioned Assignment #1

I'll admit it. It took me forever to try and come up with a topic I am passionate about. I suppose I am passionate about many things: my family, horses, riding horses... anything along those lines, but nothing of public interest. I am passionate about my country, which gave me the idea of writing about how obsessive people are of Michelle Obama and her style, and how ludicrous the obsession is!

Just about every time I log into my AOL e-mail, I go through and read the news headlines on the page. About nine times out of ten, you can find an article that has to do with Michelle Obama and her hairstyle from the previous day or the outfit she wore on vacation. Yes, she is the young, stylish First Lady, but I think the media are way too critical of her appearance.

For example, one day she'll be sporting her signature chin-length hairstyle, complete with bangs swept across her forehead, and the next day her hair will be pulled back into a shorter, more sophisticated style. The day she sported the new 'do, you would think the world was ending! The media and "Twitter-world" went nuts! Everyone thought Mrs. O had chopped her signature dark locks, when really, her hair stylist just gave her something different!

Another example of the obsession over Michelle's style is the day the Obama family left for vacation and were headed out to the Grand Canyon. She was photographed wearing slate blue khaki shorts that were mid-thigh length. Many news outlets criticized Michelle's shorts, saying they were "too short" and that type of dress was "inappropriate for the First Lady." They were going hiking. In the desert! Not to church! Just let it go! What would you wear hiking in the desert?! A business suit?!

I'm fairly certain that the issues (the economy, troops overseas, healthcare, workforce, you know...) facing our country today are much bigger and more important than worrying about what outfit or hairstyle Michelle will surprise us with next.

And so it begins...

This is the first official blog entry of the Fall semester for Media Writing class. Not so sure I like the colors of my blog so I'm sure they're going to change many times.