Obama Underwear

Life in Africa can be hard; especially on your underwear.

 

We arrived in Senegal over two years ago with what could be described as a moderate supply of underwear for all members of the family. We even brought with us some “spares” that we kept tucked away knowing that we could not just run down to the local Wal-Mart to pick up our favorite Hanes and Fruit-of-the-Loom products.

 

But two years is a long time in the life of a pair of underwear. And after over two years of having our underwear washed by hand, then hung out to dry in the scorching heat and under the blazing sun of southern Senegal this has left a certain over-40 male member of our family with pressing needs in the “personal clothing” department. We are talking being down to a worn-out elastic waistband and not much else!

 

However, while in Senegal you cannot run down to the corner Super Center, you can find products here that are not available back home in the States. For instance, things like Barack Obama underwear.

 

So, we recently went to the market to do a little “male lingerie” shopping, hoping to pick up a few pair of Barack’s to make it through the year. Knowing that sizing is not exactly uniform everywhere in the world, and sensing that this would be a test run of sorts with the new Obama-of-the-Looms, we decided to get two pairs. Though in the real world this underwear client fits comfortably into a medium, here we settled on a large and an extra-large sensing that Mr. Obama may run a bit small. We were pleased with the color selection and chose a nice blue and copper color. The shop owner began by asking for around ninety cents for these new Obamas, but we were able to negotiate a price closer to seventy-five cents after I assured him that the fact that I was an American did not necessarily equate to a love for the man whose name would soon encircle my waistband.

 

Upon returning home the entire family was excited to see how Mr. President was going to help the leader of their family resist the urge to go commando for the foreseeable future. And I must admit, while I do not personally support Obama, I was hoping that Obama’s new product would support me!

 

Unfortunately, our initial foray into the seedy and mixed-up world of politics and undergarments proved to be a disaster. The package marked XL actually contained a pair of large underwear. Yet another example of a politician, in this case Mr. Obama, promising something that ultimately turned out to be a bait-and-switch. Then, as we tried on the now two pair of large underwear that we had, they were so small that Hosanna proved to be the only family member capable of wearing them. Truly, the Barack Obama underwear approval rating took a decided hit over this whole affair.

 

So, what’s the moral of this story? Never trust a politician. And if you ever decide to send us a care package, a few pairs of men’s medium Hanes would be greatly appreciated!