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Making Ukranian Village brighter.


Now that the sun has emerged in Chicago my Obama Chia Pet is finally sprouting some hair.
I first saw the Obama Chia several months ago at a downtown CVS. I figured I'd get it at some later date but then there was a big hullabaloo about the meaningless planters being politically incorrect. They were pulled off the shelves along with a George Washington Chia Pet, an innocent bystander.

I was hellbent on getting an Obama Chia Pet.
I perused the Internet but it was more fun to try and find one in person. The clerks at north side drug stores were pretty testy. One woman even suggested it was "illegal" to sell the Obama Chia Pet. This is when I began thinking it would be easier to buy a handgun in Chicago than an Obama Chia Pet. I didn't get this static when I bought my Hillary Clinton Nutcracker.

South side people were more accomodating.
The Hyde Park Walgreens where the President used to buy NicoDerm went out of their way to help me. A store manager even told me that Obama's daughters loved the Chia Pet that depicts their father. The President reportedly didn't mind either. He was the first Chia based on a living person. Now that the Beatles are licensing everything, I propose Beatles Chias. Strawberry Chias forever!

After checking extra stock in the basement a Walgreen's clerk apologized for not having any more Obamas. Or George Washingtons. I wanted one of those, too. Then a nice woman in line--she was African-American--told me about a CVS down the street that had a few Obama Chia Pets.
This was the fifth CVS store I visited in Chicago.

A friendly clerk there sold me two Obama Chia Pets, I presume before they were cloistered in Chia Pet Jail. I kept one and gave the other to my girl friend. She is a Chicago Public School teacher. The Obama Chia Pet is now a garden project for her elementary school class. They love it.

Things are bleak in Chicago these days. We're losing conventions, we flamed out on our Olympic bid and now Chicago Olympic booster Oprah is leaving town.
We need to lighten up.

Labels: Chia Pets