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I’m very glad (well maybe not glad but at least somewhat vindicated) to report that it is not only the Americans who sometimes cannot name their own current political leaders. Do you remember during the last presidential election how much was made of the videos of so called average Americans who weren’t able to name the vice president or the secretary of state? In a couple of cases, these were people who were incredibly opinionated and outspoken about which candidate that they believed should be in office but knew only the most basic information about that candidate. It was that way for proponents of both candidates. Anyway, I was completely embarrassed for my country and its people at that point and the way the international press took hold of the story it sounded like that was something that would only happen in the United States.
Well I would like to set the record straight once and for all. Americans are not the only ones who do not always pay attention to their current political leaders. Sitting at the airport yesterday, staring intently at my computer screen (don’t fret, I was very focused reading an article about Sandra Bullock’s marriage troubles not anything work related) my co-worker, who is a real live kiwi, jumped up out of her seat and started stuttering something about “look up! look up!”. It is not unusual for my co-workers to point out some kiwi rugby player or musician that I have never heard of walking just in front of our desk because everyone who flies into Queenstown airport has to walk right past me to get to the baggage claim area. I tore my eyes from Sandra’s sad article to see a man in a t-shirt and shorts walking with a boy who was probably around ten years old or so. They didn’t look in the least bit unusual, so I just turned and looked at my co-worker who informed me that the very casually dressed man was none other than the kiwi prime minister “whats-his-name”.
That’s all it took. She had no clue what his name was and it was me, the foreigner from that country where no one who is interviewed on television who ever seems to know anything about their own government that had to tell her what her own prime minister’s name was. It’s John Key in case you were waiting with baited breath to find out and you should really look up the David Letterman episode where he did the top 10 list. Hilarious! I cant imagine any other head of state (I guess that would actually be the Queen rather than the prime minister in this situation but you get my point) doing anything like that. He was walking around the Queenstown airport with no security and no pretension whatsoever. I was dumbfounded by that, but then it was my faithful kiwi co-worker’s turn to look at me like I was crazy. “Why would he need security?” she asked in all seriousness. Good point. Why would he need security? Maybe because every other president or prime minister has security. Can you imagine Obama or Gordon Brown walking around an airport on their own? Not likely. But just add that to the reasons why I love New Zealand. Even the prime minister is cruisey.