With regard to bike helments and Obama, it’s do as I say, not as I do

It’s such a little thing, but it’s such a big reminder that Obama, hectorer in chief, really does feel that he is above all the things that he tells the little people to do:

President Obama took a bike ride with his family today in Aquinnah, on Martha’s Vineyard. The First Family cruised along Lobsterville Beach on a gorgeous sunny day but there was one glaring omission in an otherwise picture perfect tableau – the president was not wearing a bike helmet.

White House spokesman Bill Burton said he did not know why the president was not wearing a helmet because he generally does.

“He supports the wearing of bicycle helmets,” Burton said.

Go here to see the accompanying video.

Perhaps Obama was worried that the helmet would mess with his hair.  I learned today at the New York Times that African-Americans are obsessed with their hair, which they see not merely as protein product emerging from their scalp that needs to be groomed, but as a deep political issue.  Thus, they think white people are perpetually judging their hair.  They remind me of the 14 year old who is convinced that everyone is looking at her.  That’s almost never the case.  It’s just that, in the adolescent’s fevered world view, she’s convinced that she is the center of the universe, and that she’s managed to set out from the house with her fly unzipped.

Message to all people about their hair:  everyone is not looking at you.  If you like what you see in the mirror, and you’re not spending more time and money on your hair than you can manage, stop worrying about other people.  (As for Obama, of course, people are looking at him, but he has a wonderfully easy hairstyle.)

By the way, I’m a big fan of bike helmets, something beautifully demonstrated when my daughter, in a spill from her bike, ended up with a small bruise on her forehead, rather than a huge concussion on her brain.