Curbing my cynicism.

I'm too old and cynical to get worked up over a lot of things that excite the masses. Sports have taken on an entertainment aspect that allows me to approach them like a movie or TV show. I don't allow myself to get down if the home town team loses. I figure that Donovan McNabb doesn't care if I have a bad day at work, so I shouldn't care if he does.

I can get happy, like I did over the Phillies winning the World Series. That's a mood elevator and I'm all for that. I don't boo the home team and never allow losses to affect my attitude. I have enough problems without compounding them with angst over the Eagles losing another NFC championship game.

That same cynicism rules my feelings over politics, too. I vote in every election and always have firm opinions over my choices, but I seldom expect big changes to come from having my favorite candidate win. It seems like I've heard every promise for a better life and I can't point to any of them making a huge difference, since taxes only go up and this year's dollar is never worth more than last year's.

I've been watching the non-stop coverage of the Barack Obama inauguration over the past couple of weeks. It's relentless. I haven't seen anything like it in my lifetime. I understand the historical impact, but there is also an element of hope involved. It helps that he is following the biggest disaster since the Chicago fire, but there is something more to this, I think.

We dropped what we were doing (not much) at work today to take an hour break and watch the ceremony in our cafeteria. It was pretty easy to pick out the Republicans as they walked by the TV without turning their heads. The significance of the event seemed lost on some.

Maybe he is the presidential equivalent of The Beatles - coming along at the right time - or maybe he is merely fulfilling his place in history? I don't know and I don't care. I'm excited about a new president for the first time in a long while.

The problem with a big build-up is that it's difficult to live up to the hype. We're in danger of being disappointed, but my gut instincts tell me that is a remote possibility, regardless of the non-stop coverage.

Today was a big party. The real work starts on Wednesday. It will take him 6 months to clean out Bush's desk. It's probably full of McDonald's wrappers and scraps of paper with doodles and notes.

Good riddance.