Sharing is What Good Friends Do.

Years ago, my son was infatuated with Teddy Ruxpin. We timeshifted episodes onto VHS (thanks Supreme Court) in the days before there were DVDs for sale and my son watched them endlessly. One of the themes songs had to do with sharing, as in the title of this piece. The next line was "Whatever I have, you can have some too!"

I asked my grandson for a piece of cookie the other day and he said "No. I don't want to share." Interestingly about the same time, his dad pulled out the old Teddy Ruxpin tapes which extol love of Dad ("He's my Dad and I'm glad we're together again.") and of course, sharing. It got me thinking about my own distaste for sharing. Perhaps I need to go back to kindergarten or watch a round of Teddy Ruxpin myself.

I also think my focus on not wanting to share may have something to do with how much I do have to share with others these days. I share a secretary. I share my house with 7 and sometimes 8 or 9 other people (when my daughter is visiting as she is now). During the wedding week we had 12 people in the house.

I am not crazy about sharing my food with the hordes in the house. WHERE ARE MY ICE CREAM SANDWICHES?! Or the driveway. CAN"T YOU PARK THAT CLUNKER ON THE STREET?! Or my makeup and toiletries. WHERE IS MY LIPSTICK, MY DEODORANT, MY LOTION?! Most people would not find these issues too crazy. (notwithstanding the delivery.)

However, my lack of desire to share has spread. As you may know from reading this blog, I also do not much care to share my doctor or my birthday with my otherwise lovable husband. Last week, I found myself getting annoyed that a few other people in the legal department were promoted to SVP like me. While they may be deserving, I was thinking that it was MY TITLE and no one else should get it for a while since it took me so long and so much effort to get the title. (I am not alone in this irrational thought. Another person in my department reacted unfavorably to my promotion because I would then have the same title as she.)

Which leads me to Hillary. Does she resent sharing the spotlight with Bill given that he was the public face of the rescue of the two women journalists from North Korea in the past 48 hours. As the NY Times and LA Times revealed, Hillary was very involved in the plans since March to get these two women freed. I understand as Secretary of State she could not be the one to go to North Korea to fetch them back since that would be too big of a concession from the Obama administration to the rogue state. Indeed, she tried to get the North Koreans to accept Al Gore and, according to Richard Wolffe's book Renegade, Obama thinks Bill is a loose cannon. But Bill was the one to go and he got the headlines so having everyone love Bill for going must stick in her craw. Particularly since she went to Africa and no one is paying attention to her. The NYTimes thinks so also:

Mr. Clinton’s mission may be less of an issue for Mr. Obama than for Mrs. Clinton. The same day he landed in North Korea, she arrived in Kenya, beginning an 11-day journey through Africa — a visit now largely eclipsed by her husband’s travels.

Hillary talks in her book, Living History, about doing what is best for the country and putting aside, with difficulty at times as with Bill's tryst with the famous grad of Pacific Hills, her own feelings. I respect and honor her service to this country. I just hope that somewhere she is privately grousing about having to share the credit and limelight with Bill. After all, she is only human.