“Thanks Obama” is a popular
Internet meme in which the president
is thanked for any and all problems. For
example: “My toast got burnt this
morning. Thanks Obama!” and “Atlanta
Falcons defense gets worse every year.
Thanks Obama!”
Well, people in Agra had good reason
to thank Obama recently. He was
scheduled to tour the Taj Mahal during
his three-day visit to India, but had to
cancel plans so he could visit Saudi
Arabia following the death of King
Abdullah. The cancellation came too late to prevent
a cleaning crew of 600 people from sprucing up the
monument and its vicinity in anticipation of his visit.
The streets were swept, spit stains
scrubbed away, and trash removed
from the Yamuna River.
“He might not be going to Agra, but
thanks to Barack Obama, at least the city
has been cleaned up,” tweeted TV news
anchor Padmaja Joshi.
Former Twitter engineer Johan Oskarssoon
also expressed his gratitude:
“Area around Taj Mahal was unusually
clean due to Obama’s (cancelled) visit.
Thanks, Obama!”
Another Twitter user (@sankararaman)
is hoping for more clean-up efforts.
He tweeted: “@BarackObama When are you cancelling
your trip to Chennai?”