GRITS in the White House!!, by Stacey McClain – T.B.A. #3

February 10, 2009 Stacey McClain 10 Comments

Okay, I must tell you, once I came up with the title of this blog, I had to google it to see if there was a similar post. And, YES – it popped up! There was a post entitled, “Grits In The White House” — but the blog was basically a menu that someone listed for a White House Christmas Party. The dish on this menu was “Cheesy Stone-Ground Grits”– I’m sure a bourgie delight. However, I’m blogging about something different today. The fact that on any given morning, it’s possible that the White House Chef will be requested to make grits for the current White House family – The Obamas. And I mean, regular ol’ Quaker Oats-in-the-round- blue-box, with the George Washington looking dude on the front of the box– GRITS. The type of grits you simply serve with salt and pepper and a lump of butter sitting right in the middle of it. My question is, when they’re served – will it be announced?

I’ve raise this question, because it appears as if there have been a lot of information about the Obama’s that I feel might not have been disseminated if they were — I’ll just say… any other Presidential family. I’ve seen a few Presidents elected in my day, however I can’t tell you that particular portions of their lives were THIS magnified. Like, when they announced that Barack’s Presidential vehicle was going to be a Cadillac. The way that it was reported was as if it was a huge deal. Well, in doing a little research (googled it) I don’t remember the press making a big deal when they found out that President G.W. Bush’s car was a Cadillac. And, what about some of the newscast regarding the type of service you get when you’re President? I heard a newscaster say something to this effect, “The Obama’s will have someone at their every beck and call, no matter when they want something, they can get it at all times of the night.” Well, Hell – wasn’t it like that for ALL of the Presidents? Seriously, where is the “big” news in that? Is it me? Or is it that because he a brother of a different hue, that these things have been overly magnified? Another example, Michelle’s mother coming to stay at the white house. Well, my research (google, again) shows she’s not the first mother-in-law to stay at the White House. Laura Bush’s mother, Jenna Welch also spent weeks staying there – I don’t remember significant press on that. Also, Harry Truman’s mother-in-law lived on the white house grounds for a time – was this news back then? My guess is, it wasn’t. They were at most day-to-day conversations… but certainly not newsworthy. Maybe I’m looking at this a little too deeply, and perhaps to some people, these are not frivolous news issues, but important items that we should know about. And, is it just me? Maybe because I was raised on the South Side of Chicago, I tend to see things a little too Black and White and calculated when it comes to politics. Perhaps.

But, since these, what I call “not-so-newsworthy-tidbits of information” have been all-up-in the press, I await the day when we watch the news to hear an important released a tape that might have a conversation such as this:

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the chefs are scrambling (pun intended) trying to figure out who is going out to get grits. They decide the assistant chef is going to run out to get them. They are concerned about time, in case the family comes down early for breakfast. On the way out of the white house, the assistant chef runs into a news reporter (a rookie). The rookie reporter asks the assistant chef, what they were cooking for the Obama’s. The asst. chef hurriedly, tells him that he can’t really talk, he’s rushing to the store to pick up some grits, the First lady needs them within the hour. The rookie news reporter, thinking he has some sort of scoop blows the shit out of proportion and releases a story that the Obama’s sent the chef out, on an emergency run to get GRITS!

Okay, maybe this won’t happen this way. But, if it did, I’m guessing it will be just as newsworthy as the other frivolous items reported in the last few months.

Stacey McClain is a writer, hustling in L.A. like the rest of the writers, seeking employment so that she can have grits and eggs for breakfast. Buy her ebook at Hollwood50tips.com.