Lapdog

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

A came across a word the other day that I had not heard in a while… lapdog.

I remember when my wife and I were discussing getting a new dog a couple of years ago, we had a discussion about it. She wanted one. I did not. So, we compromised… and got a dog.

My wife hoped that the new dog would be “her” dog, since I have “my” cat, our other dog long ago officially alligned himself with our daughter.

This theoretical new dog, my wife hoped, would be a “lapdog” — as in one that would enjoy laying in her lap and just being a chill dog — something our other dog simply does not do. Oh, he wants to be where you’re at, just not, like, on you.

The cat loves to be in your lap… anyone’s lap, really. But my wife is a dog person, so she wanted to get a lapdog. Well, she

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got her wish. That dog loves to lay on you, next to you, all over you… on the couch, in the floor, on the bed (when we let her). She is the very definition of a lapdog. She aims to please. You want to go outside? Well, she’s coming too!

You want to go take a nap in the back bedroom? Here she comes! Walk into the kitchen? She’s all about some snacks!

Sounds great, right? Well, it sort of is, and it sort of isn’t. It can also be pretty annoying. I mean, as soon as I get up off the couch, she thinks it’s adventure time. If I get up, she’s getting up. If I walks down the hall, she’s right there with me. If I go to the bathroom, I close the door behind me, and when I open the door, there she is, looking up at me like, “What are we gonna do next, buddy?” You know, it’s kind of like, “How am I supposed to miss you when you never leave?”

I say all of this because it makes me chuckle these days seeing President Trump and his own little lapdog, Elon Musk. Because you kust know that Trump is starting to get a little tired of Musk’s high-energy, weird-kid-inclass antics. One, because even if you like someone, if they’re always cranked up to 11, it gets annoying after a while. And two, if all eyes are on Elon, they’re not on Trump, and old’ 45/47 doesn’t like having to share the spotlight — especially not with his yappy little lapdog.