I just remembered something I did at work last night:
Just before closing the store, I was hastily counting money while turning around every 20 seconds to refresh the computer screen behind me. My hands were shaking with anticipation and I was finding it really hard to remember what number I was on- I think I had to start over probably five times for each drawer. By the end of the last drawer Ohio had been announced and something involuntary happened: I was so high from the news that I grabbed the stack of money in front of me and wrote "I voted Obama" in a bubble coming out of Abraham Lincoln's mouth on the top bill.
If you find the bill, let it be a reminder not only of my complete dorkdom, but of the joy and momentum of the situation. I'm not sure why I did it- I wans't trying for great symbolism or anything. I think it really was some spontaneous expression of jubilation. Lincoln looked a bit happier than usual in his five dollar portrait, so I guess I wanted to make a note of it. I just now remembered that I did it while reading that John Lewis, "jumped so high I started shouting. I was at Ebenezer Church. I just embarrassed myself." I was alone while defacing the five, but the accountant surely saw it this morning while making the deposit. Maybe I'll see it again one day.
Now that I think of it, it's probably a good idea to recollect the course of events last night, if only for the sake of our personal histories. I was at work, checking people out and trying not to engage in political conversation without the customer saying something first. My hands were shaking all night and I dropped a lot of change while trying to put it in people's hands. Surprisingly, I didn't break anything or get into a difficult conversation with a cusotmer. Some people wore several Obama buttons or a t-shirt, so I shared hesitantly hopeful remarks with them, but others I just wished well and gave them a truffle. (we might've broken state rules about giving gifts on election day- no one really bothered to check what the law is here, but who cares! everyone that wore an "I voted" sticker got a chocolate truffle. By the end of the night I was pretty much giving them away by the handful.) A lot of people were buying chips and dips and cheeses to take to election watch parties, and a lot of them said little to me because they had their cell phones glued to their heads. We had a computer in the back to check the map and, by about 8 o'clock, were making full use of the intercom to announce news. When New Mexico was announced I bought a $20 bottle of bubbly produced at a vineyard in New Mexico. When I got home I plugged in our little black and white TV at almost the exact time the CBS called the election. The champagne cork popped of it's own accord when we took the wire off and the rest of the night was very blurry. We watched the speeches, I talked to a lot of people on the phone, and I cried. As I was falling asleep a one man parade went down our street yelling through a megaphone, "OBAAAAAAMAAAAAAAA, O-BAMA!"
where were you, what were you doing?
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I was determined to get a photo of my vote, and snuck a camera into our polling place in the pocket of my shorts. However I was asked if I would use a handicap booth, to make the line move faster, and there was no curtain surrounding it, so I couldn't get that moment of secrecy I needed to whip out the camera and take a picture of my "Obama" vote. But, my kids were there with me, under strict orders to be quiet, and they watched me push that button, and then watched as I pushed the "cast ballot" button. We had planned to spend their day out of school to go hiking or be outdoors, but since my son was just getting over a case of strep throat we had to stay home.
We made a special meal for election night, and the kids were wound up wanting to watch the returns. They had no concept of how long it would take to start getting results. The first "official" breaking news was that Kentucky was declared for McCain. Frustrating, but not surprising. But it sent me on a tizzy of trying to tidy the house to keep off the worry that this whole election was going to somehow go to McCain. I kept in motion...which was all I could do...and refused to watch the returns for a while on TV because I couldn't stand all the weird hologram reporters and floating bar charts and magic screens, and I couldn't bear to listen to the prattle of the talking heads. Instead I came into my office occasionally to monitor the updates on my computer.
Over the course of the evening I got calls from Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, and Pennsylvania....all from my family--all Obama supporters. My husband's family is decidedly Republican, so every time the phone rang he said, "It's YOUR family!" and smiled an evil smile.
The kids were determined to stay awake until it was official, but both of them fell asleep just minutes before the official "declaration" of his win. We tried to wake them up to watch his acceptance speech, but they weren't having it. I had them watch it the next night on the internet.
We toasted our new president with champagne we've been saving until we sell our house (which at 10 months on the market is a whole other frustrating reason we're glad to see change coming) and tears flowed.
I'm so relieved that it is over. I'm so relieved that for once Americans saw past the screams and alarms of the Right over things that truly do not impact people on a day-to-day basis, and instead made a choice for someone who can truly begin a new direction. I'm so excited that most Americans have judged a man by his character and not his color.
We went to a watch party at a friends house around 8. By that time things were starting to shape up.
Just before I left the house I had been summoned to the door by a barking dog to find a couple of teens who wanted to purchase our Obama sign. There's had been stolen.
Ours was a home made sign that we made to replace our stolen one. It read
"you can steal our sign but not our vote. OBAMA 08"
I gave it to them for free.
That was the second random person to knock on the door wanting a yard sign. The first was a guy during the primary.
When I got to the party everyone was still in the standard Dem mode of expecting to lose. And even after they called it for Obama, it was hard to accept.
I think because we wanted it so badly that we were sure the bastards would find a way to take it away.
We watched the speech almost silently.
Things will not go smooth over the next four years and you would almost be a fool to want to clean up the mess that has been left by W. But that night and still a week later I can't help but feel like we did something huge.
It to me is a lot more than just electing a black man to the Presidency. It was that we elected the right man, and at the right time.
I talked to some folks over the last few days who didn't vote for obama and I couldn't help but feel like they regretted that a bit in hindsight. I certainly don't blame anyone who didn't, but it sure did feel good to win this one.
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