“Don’t let them take my soup.”

Obviously, the innauguration of Barack Obama was a big deal for millions of people. I voted for him, and hope that he can even partially meet the many expectations we've all laid on his administration. My family will be praying for his safety and success.

I liked his innaugural speech quite a bit. It was serious but hopeful. It was a message for serious adults in a serioius time, not just puffed up, pseudo-patriotic rhetoric.

With that being said... my favorite Obama quote from the day was reported in the New York Times:

Mr. Obama, the first president since John F. Kennedy who came directly from the Senate to the White House, first savored his inauguration over a lunch inside the Capitol. A hearty seafood stew, served topped with puff pastry, helped to counter the day’s chill.

The president had only a few spoonfuls before he left the table to greet his 237 guests, but he turned to a waiter and said, “Don’t let them take my soup.”

As someone who, myself, uses humor (sometimes successfully) to help put people at ease and move along through trying social situations, I found President Obama's casual, gently funny remark to be a very nice indicator of the man's personality. It's not the remark of someone trying to get a big laugh from the whole table; he probably didn't expect it to be reported. It's not, after all, newsworthy at all.

It's just a nice, funny aside from a guy who's trying to be chummy with the wait-staff ass well as the joint-chiefs-of-staff.

I like that. A lot.