I got up at 6:20, bright (dark, really. damn daylight savings!) and early. I struggled to get myself out of bed to shower. I got dressed listening to MSNBC's "Morning Joe", which gets on my nerves every now and then, mostly because Joe Scarborough is generally obnoxious. I had my usual breakfast and then sat down in front of the TV. I had afforded myself a little bit of time because I told my boss that I would be voting, but that wasn't why I wasn't moving to head to my polling location, which happened to be my old elementary school. I felt the heavy burden of civic duty (roll your eyes, it's fine. Perf said that he almost cried!) and I realized that I was actually going to pull the lever for Obama. Shoot. And to top it all off I couldn't find my glasses.
I got to the polls and a woman directed me to the registration table and then my ward's line. Listening to Lupe Fiasco and swaying anxiously, I felt like I was going to explode. "Hurry up! It's not that hard!" I thought as the lined inched forward. Behind me I hear a noise and then a bunch of people gasp. An elderly black man's walker had just flipped and sent the poor guy tumbling down. A bunch of people went to help him up and brought him water, etc. He was fine. I hoped that would be the only exciting thing that happened here.
As I was called under the curtain, I could finally see it right before my eyes. BARACK OBAMA for president, it read. Then, a slight panic. I had never voted in person before, and I had no freaking clue how to enter my choice. It was an electronic machine, but not a touch-screen, and the big wall of choices didn't really indicate what to do. There was a series of numbers below the wall, but I couldn't figure those out either. Ha. So much for civic duty. After regaining my breath, I realized that all you had to do was push the little box under the candidates name. It lit up. Relief. I chose all the other democrats down the line (with the exception of my old soccer coach. gotta support the team!) and pressed submit. Ding! I was done. Phew. I could now partake in the school bake sale.
Now, we wait.
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1 comment:
Hey Graham,
So I'm in Argentina right now (still.) I've been here since July, and it's been so strange and surreal to be so far away from all of the action this fall - especially since it was my first time voting in a presidential election (albeit by absentee ballot, which I sent in about a month ago since the Argentine postal system is nothing if not unreliable.) Anyway, I spent last night with a group of 10 or so American students, crammed into my friend Chris's tiny apartment in a shady neighborhood in Buenos Aires so that we could take advantage of his access to CNN International, broadcast in English - because watching Obama speak re-dubbed via simultaneous translation into Spanish doesn't have nearly the same effect. It was around 2.30 a.m. here when CNN called the results, and Obama's speech ended by around 3.30 our time.
The thing about Argentina (much of Latin America, really,) and especially the student culture at the public universities here (super, super radical, leftist, etc. etc. everything people claim that Brown students are but they're actually not,) is that they're not all too fond of the U.S., and understandably so, given the past 8 years. As an American abroad, prior to last night, I've often felt kind of ashamed of my country when talking to cab drivers or Argentine students at the University of Buenos Aires. To admit that you're from the States is almost like a taboo sometimes.
But last night changed that. For the first time since I've been down here, I honestly felt so incredibly, incredibly proud to be an American, and to have taken part in this historic moment. America really came through last night, and that's something that I know I can be proud of, and that the radically cynical Argentine students can't take away. Sure, we might not be as socially progressive as some of the recently-elected Latin-American governments, but last night, we did something right, and there's no questioning that.
BUT all does not sit entirely well with my American pride. The CNN international broadcast only covered the results of the presidential and congressional elections, and offered zero coverage of the status of the various ballot initiatives that were on the table yesterday, so it wasn't until I arrived home at 4.30 a.m. that I found out via my boyfriend via Skype that all of the anti-gay ballot initiatives in California, Florida, Arizona and Arkansas had passed. Needless to say, it was a difficult moment. So I guess the problem that I'm facing now is that I want so, so badly to be proud of America, but I feel like I can't entirely give myself over to the overwhelming sentiments I felt last night. Waking up this morning and facing those realities - the right to marriage taken away in California, the right to adopt eliminated in Arkansas - makes it hard to fully stand behind my country right now, as much as I would like to. I'm hopeful for the our future under Barack, and last night, from 5000 miles away, I felt more pride and more a part of our country than I ever have before, but at the same time I can't help but feel like I'm being excluded, like America doesn't want me or the gay community to take part in this moment. For me, last night was both an incredible victory and an incredible loss.
I don't know, I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm proud, but conflicted right now.
Either way, I'd better be seeing you next semester.
Ezra
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