The characters from the Ghost and Mrs. Muir belong to 20th Century Fox. I do not own them. Neither do I own President-Elect and Mrs. Obama, but they are mentioned here. This story is plucked from the headlines shall we say, discussing the on-going debate over whether Obama should be allowed to keep his Blackberry. Spider-Man is owned by Marvel Comics, Blackberry is owned by Research in Motion and Apple Computers are owned by, you guessed it, Apple!
Jan. 2008
"I don't really understand the ruckus they are making about all of this." Daniel Gregg laid the paper down, shaking his head in confusion. "If the man wants his Blackberry then why the devil don't they let him keep it?"
"Because it can be a security risk," his son-in-law said from across the table. "What if the man lays it down somewhere and someone picks it up. What if some hacker is able to get access to it and changes all the information or gets the phone numbers for the Joint Chiefs of Staff..."
"Or finds out his wall paper is Tweety Bird." Candy couldn't help but butt in. Jeff gave her a chilling look and she smiled at him sweetly.
"Well, it could happen." she defended herself.
"He doesn't really look like a Tweety Bird man to me. " the Captain chuckled. The seaman had really learned so much about the world he was now in. And despite what he said, he very much enjoyed it. "I think we might find it's Wily E. Coyote."
'Do you think?" Candy scratched her nose thoughtfully. Candy and her husband of twenty years were visiting Gull Cottage for the weekend. Both Carolyn and Daniel loved when the "kids" came to see them, bringing news outside of Schooner Bay . Not that in this day and age, the news of the world wasn't available at the point of a finger... And Captain Gregg would be the first admit he was addicted to it all. For a spirit who claimed not to like electric lights a mere forty years ago, he had advanced into a world-class expert on keeping his tabs on the events unfolding in front of him. Thus the discussion on the erstwhile blackberry.
"Actually, if I had to guess," Jeff sighed. "I'd say it was Marvin the Martian. But that isn't the point. For the man to continue to carry his blackberry with him is a breach of national security."
"But what if he wants to drop a letter to a friend and the only place the address is, is in the blackberry?" Candy countered.
"That's just the point." Jeff shook his head. "I've read that once a man becomes president, all personal effects are taken away from him — his credit cards, debit cards, his address book. They can't have him contacting the wrong people, can't have these items falling in the wrong hands."
"So in essence he ceases to be a person." Daniel said thoughtfully, rubbing his beard. "Makes you wonder why anyone would want the job."
"Not necessarily." Jeff frowned. "Just a person without, well, without any access to the outside world."
"Controlled and rigid." Candy sighed. "It would make me give the thought of running a second or third look.
"He wants the job because he thinks he has something to bring to the nation that no one else ever has before," Carolyn added her two cents worth, coming in from the mud porch. "And just for the record, I think he's more of a Snoopy guy on the whole screen-saver issue."
"Can't keep any secrets in this house." Candy laughed. "And I agree with Mom, he does seem more like a Snoopy guy."
Jeff looked up from the current copy of the Schooner Bay Beacon. "It says here that they will have to pry it out of his hands. Imagine being that hooked on technology."
"Imagine you without your I-phone." Candy rumpled his hair. "Or, you without your I-pod. Then think about the poor man again and reconsider."
"But honey, I'm not the president."
'No, you're not. But that's not my point. The point is, if I tried to take away those things from you, you would become very upset. It's the same with the Blackberry. It's, well, it's his life."
"Exactly, what I think." Daniel nodded.
"Well, I think they are saying he won't need it because he will have someone to do all of those things for him. There will be some one to look up addresses, buy things for him, etc. I didn't watch The American President twelve times for nothing." Carolyn sat down beside the spirit of Gull Cottage and he passed her the cream for her coffee.
"How many cups have you had this morning?"
"Only three," she said, not looking him in the eye.
"Only three?"
"Okay, five. But I had to take the dogs out for their run this morning and it was chilly."
"I wonder if he drinks coffee?" Candy mused.
"Who, the Blackberry guy? I think so, " Jeff nodded.
"I think so, too. I wonder if they have someone who makes it for him?"
"He's going to be the president; of course there is someone."
"He can't keep his laptop either." Carolyn once more looked up from the paper.
"Why not that? Afraid he might go on a spending spree on Amazon?" Daniel quipped.
"He can't, they took his credit cards," Jeff remembered.
"Whose credit cards did they take?" Candy and Jeff's eighteen-year-old daughter Danielle came sauntering into the room. "That sounds serious."
"No sign of her all morning but at the first mention of credit cards she appears," her father teased her, pulling her ponytail.
"It's not like that, Daddy." She rolled her eyes. "I just got back from taking the dogs for a run."
"But I thought Grandma just did that." all eyes went to Carolyn who was now enjoying her sixth cup of coffee.
"I started to take the dogs," Carolyn blushed. "But then Danielle said she do it. So I thought I'd need the extra coffee."
"That's true," the teenager nodded. "Horatio is getting to where he takes Grandma for a run."
"I keep telling her we could get someone to do that every morning." The Captain shook his head.
"No, it keeps me in shape," Carolyn declared.
"I think your shape is just fine," Daniel returned.
"Thanks to the dogs," she countered.
"Excuse me, but who is losing their credit cards?" Danielle sat down beside her namesake, ignoring his look as she helped herself to some of the coffee.
"Too young to be drinking that," he said quietly.
"You can't be too young to drink lifeblood." She winked at her Grandmother. "Now whose credit cards, please?"
"The Obamas." her father said. "It's traditional when a president takes office to strip him of all his personal things. It's for the sake of the country."
"Daddy," she shook her head. "It's not for the sake of the country it's for the sake of the Obama's. That way no one can hack into this accounts or anything. It's for their own good. Although if I were Michelle, I'd hide one. I bet they've got platinum."
"But to get back to the original question." Daniel insisted. "I still don't see why he has to get rid of the Blackberry."
"Because all presidential correspondence is preserved for the historic record. Everything he writes and says will go into his presidential library someday and little kids will study it in school."
"Can't you preserve e-mail?' Candy wanted to know.
"Well, yeah." the teen laughed. "But we've never done it that way before. And that's not all, there is also fear that his communications could become encrypted."
"Do you think there is actually someone just sitting there waiting to do that?" Carolyn wanted to know.
"I wouldn't doubt it, but seriously. The guy is smart enough to be president; I think he's smart enough to take extreme caution in any messages he would send. It's not like he's going to put secured data on it or anything," she shrugged.
"Well, I'm pulling for him," Daniel declared.
"Me, too." Carolyn said, "But right now, I've got to get working on my article."
"Jeff and I are going to work on the repairs to the flagstones," Candy said. "I guess I better change clothes."
"I guess, since I'm not getting out of it," the man smiled at his wife.
"Bossy."
"Well, yeah."
"Oh, don't kiss." Danielle closed her eyes. "You look like your going to kiss."
Jeff gave his wife a smooch, then kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Show's over."
"I do have to say, I still think he's a Tweety Bird man." Candy reflected.
"Don't you guys ever watch the news? Where have you been?" Danielle shook her head. "Everyone knows it's going to be Spider Man!"