First we had the term First Lady. And that was good. Sounds a bit elitist, I suppose, but the idea was respect for the position and unacknowledged time and energy. The First Lady is more or less an official position. There’s an Office of the First Lady. She has staff.
Then we had the First Family. And that was OK, I guess. No official position, no staff, no office, so it’s not really the same. But you can stretch the point that far, I guess.
Then we had the First Dog!
Already, you feel uncomfortable capitalizing and italicizing the First Dog. The dog got more press than most of Obama’s secretarial appointments. His own page on the White House website. I mean, come on! It must be a slow news day. Didn’t I read somewhere that they have, like, an economic problem and a couple ‘o wars?
Is there an Office of the First Dog? Is it well-staffed? Besides the First Dog Walker, that is?
Tonight CNN outdid themselves. They talked about the First Grandmother! This was news to me, but, it seems, they’ve been using this term in the states for months now. What’s next? The First Cat? First Gardener? First Violin? Did I drop into Alice in Wonderland when I wasn’t looking?
Will we have a Second Dog? Or with that be the Understudy Dog? Backup Dog? Dog Double?After all, Sadam Houssein had a double. Why not Bo?
And why “First” anyways? Can’t they just say “the President’s Dog”, cat, grandmother, gardiner, etc?