Skateboarding icon Hawk hits White House hallways
To the amazement of some and amusement of others, pro skateboarding icon Tony Hawk rolled through some of the hallways of the White House as part of a Father’s Day visit to our national mansion.
Admittedly, it’s a bit jarring to think of the floors of the White House being turned into makeshift skaetboard ramps, and that didn’t set well with some of the media and/or political pundits. (One Fox News commentator expressed outrage at the matter, saying: “President Obama should be grounded for at least a week for letting Tony Hawk play in our house. Where in hell are the adults?”)
Okay, okay, I get it. Perhaps it was not only a little disrespectful, but downright weird that a 40-something pro skateboarder should roll through White House corridors, and even Twitter about it. Maybe we need to remember, however, that the White House is not only “our house” — it’s the president’s house, too. I haven’t read all the stuff about this incident, but what I did read indicated Hawk’s presence had to do with celebrities and sports figure “dads” who went out to do volunteerism in the D.C. area afterward as part of the whole event.
And it is worth noting that nearly every presidential family has outraged both the public and the White House staff at one time or another as the children proceeded to be children, even in the White House.
Hawk’s skateboarding in the mansion probably wasn’t the brightest idea, but then presidents and their families deserve a bit of a break, I think, regarding their home. No damage done.