Faux Pas?

I just listened to the late news. Much to my surprise, the teaser was the faux pas committed by Michelle Obama when she visited the queen of England at Buckingham Palace. Of course, you had to listen to the entire news program before the nature of the faux pas was revealed. What was this grievous act? It seems that while they were visiting the Queen slipped her arm around Mrs. Obama’s back in a gesture of affection. Mrs. Obama returned the gesture. This has supposedly distressed the British people. One is not supposed to touch the Queen, even if she touches you first. Personally, I think it would be more offensive to ignore an obvious gesture of affection from the Queen but I do not know the first thing about royal rules of etiquette. From the perspective of someone who thinks about life and death on a daily basis, the news flash was the symbolism of an affectionate exchange of touch between the leaders of two world powers. I read into that gesture the hope of cooperation and collaboration between those world powers in solving the economic crisis, resolving world conflicts, preventing any future world conflicts, reducing global warming, and attempting to bring about peace and prosperity for all nations. I know I am a hopeless optimist. I prefer looking at the positive implications of any scenario. I was also encouraged by reports of President Obama meeting the leaders of Russia and
China. I prefer open and honest dialogue to threats of weapons of mass destruction. In the sixties, the popular slogan against the Vietnam War was “Make love not war.” Forty years later, it is time to live that slogan. The UK is our ally, despite the thousands of protesters who smashed windows in the financial district today while carrying signs declaring the ineffectiveness of capitalism. It would be nice to be able to say that all of the major world powers enjoyed a positive relationship and agreed to work together to make the planet one where we could all live together, sharing its resources and ensuring a positive quality of life for all its inhabitants.

Mrs. Obama did not commit a faux pas, in my opinion. She and Queen Elizabeth took a step toward showing the world how its leaders should behave toward each other.