Doesn’t it seem possible that Donald Trump’s success is due to people not taking the office of the president seriously? After all, how many airline passengers would turn the plane over to a passenger who leapt out of his seat and yelled, “Trust me! I can make this plane go much faster! Turn the controls over to me!’’ How many patients in a waiting room would follow a stranger who burst through the door and announced, “I’m the greatest surgeon ever! Don’t trust these losers! Come with me!’’

And yet we seem poised to turn over the most powerful office in the world — a position where a single crucial mistake could literally destroy life as we know it — to a person with no apparent relevant knowledge or experience and with the temperament of a 14-year-old on steroids.

How did we get to this point? Perhaps we should stop telling our children, “You can be anything you want. You could be president.’’ Or at least, we should tell them that it takes more than bragging and lying.

Jeff Brewer

Newton Centre