Line Please!

Yesterday we unpacked our new President.

About a million people stood in the icy cold just to bear witness to the moment. Millions more worldwide watched as Barack Obama took the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts – a moment many never thought could happen. The culmination of all this attention is of course the oath, with right hand raised and left hand on a 140-year-old bible. The crowd goes mute.

And Roberts decides to wing it.

It’s a very simple oath, easily memorized. Both participants had surely practiced it fifty times, but there’s something about a tense, expectant situation that causes the mind to gum up. Roberts flubbed it.

Best Man! Maid of Honor! Dad! Take heed…

When you’re tempted to stand up at the wedding and belt out a toast, bring your notes! Or at very least, have them tucked in a pocket close at hand, where they can be easily produced if the neurons gel. You might even use the occasion to justify the purchase of an iPhone.

Sure, it’s sexier to stand there sans prompter like Demosthenes pouring forth your heartfelt emotions (or a few lines cribbed from Kipling), but it’s much smarter to have a backup – even if it’s scrawled on the back of a paper bag.