Kid sofa-dives in Oval Office, Obama probably jealous

You’re a kid and you’re bored. Mom and Dad have dragged you to this big white house where Dad’s boss works, and there’s no food or other kids and you had to wear a coat and nice pants. They’re all talking over there. The sofa looks soft. So you dive into it face-first – right there in the Oval Office.

That’s what we imagine happened to produce the face-planting photo from the White House Flickr stream that’s gone viral this week.

The photo was snapped by White House photographer Lawrence Jackson earlier this year, but like lots of viral stuff, it gained popularity slowly and then exploded into the mainstream Internet of cat memes and BuzzFeed listicles overnight.

It shows President Obama saying goodbye to a departing Secret Service agent and the agent’s wife. Their child is the diver in question. He’s got a nice blue coat on, and he’s decided the sofa where powerful people sit to discuss what to do about Syria and other important issues looks like a good place to play.

Here’s the secret: Dad’s boss would probably like to dive face-first into that sofa, too.

Being president is a difficult and stressful job. You have to manage your time properly and do all kinds of things you’d rather not, such as pretend to listen when certain members of Congress open their mouths. Worse yet, people complain when you do things to let off steam. Golf is out for now: Mr. Obama got in trouble with that recently. People complained it was unseemly at a time of international strife.

Sofa diving. Hmm. The president could always say he tripped. Vice President Joe Biden would probably do it, too: He’s usually up for whatever.

The problem is, those sofas are usually occupied. Here’s another photo from the White House photo stream that’s sofa-centric, in which it appears a couple of serious-looking guys in suits are guarding the sofas against a possible face-planting incursion.