Joe Biden, or Uncle Gaffey as some of us like to call him, is known for his congenial nature; his ability to mingle with the regular folk, sip a beer, riff with the working man about his life in Scranton, PA, while getting real up close and comfortable. He likes to have your undivided attention when he’s sharing all his stories. Anything less, apparently, just won’t do. Well, this all may be a little too much for one senior citizen. Behold.
Good gracious! I think we’d all like this particular bear hug to end quickly! This is Biden and Sally Steffen on the campaign trail, September 18th. Just what is Joe trying to do here…trade their soft, graying, cotton spun hairdos? The Atlantic Wire reports that this is all due to Biden’s penchant for close talking. Ok, well, there’s close talking, and there’s ensnaring the elderly in a football tackle! This, uh, can’t be good for anyone. Now, we get the benefits of close talking. It tells the other person how attuned you are to what they’re saying; that you’re willing to experience all the guy or gal standing in front of you has to offer, whether praise, or criticism.
However, we’d like to tell Uncle Bidey that perhaps he shouldn’t crush the old people. You know, they’re not like melons at a fruit stand. You don’t have to “thump” for freshness. Just waving or perhaps giving a soft pat on the shoulder is good enough. They don’t need to smell the hoagie you had for lunch or get their oxygen tubing entangled in your chest hair. This is not how you retain voters. And, yes, we know, Paul Ryan wouldn’t ever deign to touch an old person full of Medicare cooties much less hold them to his bosom, but that’s no reason to over compensate, Joe.
