I swore when I started writing this that I wasn’t going to discuss politics. But here I am, just a few days in, and I have something I just have to get off my chest. I’m going to amend my anti-politics vow and narrow the scope: I won’t discuss American politics. Foreign politics are fair game.
I was reading the New York Times online (yes, I’m a subscriber), and I came across this article about the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, who was caught on video “dancing energetically, striking poses, and singing with friends at private parties.” According to the article there was no evidence that drugs were in use but that hasn’t stopped the Finnish press from speculating, which is weird because Sanna Marin is a 36 year old female for whom dancing, striking poses, and singing with friends at a private party without drugs might be normal behavior. Had it been Queen Elizabeth, Joe Biden, or even Pope Francis dancing vigorously, then not only would drugs be suspected, they’d be absolutely necessary. But take any roomful of average, thirty-something females regardless of nationality, play Rick James’ Super Freak, and dancing is inevitable. Thirty-something males will dance too, but they might require alcohol.
Of course not everyone was pleased with the leader of Finland dancing her time away. One Finnish father of four, a four-Finn father, tweeted his anger that the country’s leader was dancing and having fun while the country suffered through record high electric prices. As if the prime minister might have been home planning a new substation or developing sustainable nuclear fusion. And yet, maybe Miss Marin is on to something. Perhaps Finland can harness the energy of young people dancing.