Editorial. Reflects on the significance of the walnut desk used by
United States Vice Presidents to the human person. Details on the outer
appearance of the desk; Secret hidden within the desk's drawer;
Similarities between the desk and the people.
By
Robert Epstein, published on March 01, 2000
Marred surface, something sweet and childlikehidden inside...
Sounds like a lot of people we know, don't you think?
I saw a desk recently that held a special secret. It was a huge
walnut desk in the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., the
building where Vice President Gore has most of his offices. Long ago, I
was told, the desk was used by a succession of American presidents, but
then--when it became sufficiently scratched--it got passed along to vice
presidents.
The desk did look a bit dilapidated. It was heavily lacquered and
surrounded by priceless knickknacks in a ballroom-size office the vice
president uses for entertaining. But neither the shine nor the
surroundings could hide the hundreds of small dents and scratches that
marred every surface of this historic desk. Did presidents kick and stab
it whenever they lost a vote or a war?
But there was more to this desk than a marred surface. It held a
secret hidden inside--a peculiar, somewhat charming secret. In the main
drawer--the one right in front of you when you sit down, the wide flat
drawer where you keep pens and pencils and dozens of sheets of paper you
never look at--were the signatures of all of the officials who had ever
sat at that desk: Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon and the
rest. All but one of the signatures were written in ink; "Dan Quayle" was
carved into the wood with a penknife, as if he were in junior
high.
Marred surface, something special and sweet and childlike hidden
inside... Sounds like a lot of people we know, don't you think? Our
spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends, perhaps? How about our teachers and
bosses, and maybe our parents? How about ourselves?
As we accumulate more scratches and dents over the years, it
becomes harder for many of us to express simple, loving thoughts--to say
"I love you" to a spouse or "I'm proud of you" to a child or "Great job"
to an employee--even though these thoughts may be foremost in our minds.
Silent and evasive, we feel safe. No one likes to feel vulnerable, after
all.
When, lately, I've caught myself holding back, I've thought about
that special desk. With its drawer closed, the desk is truly grand and
imposing, scratches and all. But when the drawer is open, and those
boyish scribbles are exposed, we see the desk as the treasure it truly
is.
Robert Epstein is editor-in-chief of PSYCHOLOGY TODAY and
University Research Professor at United States International University
in San Diego. He hosts the magazine nationally syndicated radio program
and is the founder and director emeritus of the Cambridge Center for
Behavioral Studies in Massachusetts. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology at
Harvard University in 1981.
