Does anybody else think it's real wrong to be peddling chocolate Obamas? Is it just me? Anyways.
So, I guess the inauguration is coming up in a few days. I'm excited for the changes that are supposed to take place, but not too pumped to be living and having to drive to work in and through Baltimore while it's all going on. I live a few blocks from Penn Station and I hear it's gonna be insane. The insanity, if the US gets everything it's being promised, will be worth it, though.
I remember back in 2000 when the inaugural parade drove faster than the secret service guys could run because people were throwing eggs and Bush's limo. And then in 2004, when everybody was good and scared of terrorism and voted his sorry ass into office again, I remember walking around my college campus like a zombie wondering what awful things were going to happen in the four ensuing years.
Then there we all were in 2008. I was at Center Street Theater in Baltimore, drinking election-themed cocktails and chainsmoking dorals. They had these little computers that would let you click on a state or a county and see who the election was going to as it was happening. I was peeing when they called Ohio for Obama. I know this because my sister texted me. I squealed with delight in a women's public restroom. I don't regret it.
I find, though, that the closer we get to this inauguration, the more skeptical I'm feeling. Is that normal? Do all US citizens feel a little bit like even so much as avoiding a country-wide downfall the likes of which would trump Germany between the world wars is too much to ask for? Sometimes I do.
I think about things like when someone does finally declare war on US soil, I hope they take out all of the computers so that my student loan and credit card debts will be erased and I can at least live by my wits.
It's crappy to be envisioning a post-apocalyptic world on the eve of all of this change being promised. I have high hopes, but, let's say, I also have an IV drip of reality in my veins.
I say this stuff like I'm an old lady on my porch with a teacup full of bourbon and I've seen everything. Twice. Oh, I wish. That's not the case. I'm only 26, actually.
I want to believe that we'll be out of Iraq soon and focus our energy on the masses of starving people in this country.
I want to believe that having a Black president will help assuage some of the rampant and maybe even some of the more insidious racism in the country.
I want to believe that this dude's gonna focus, at lease a little bit, on women's rights and gender equality.
I want to believe that my gay and lesbian and transgender and bisexual fellow humans will be treated as more than a punchline.
I want to believe that the natural world we have come to depend on for our livelihood will suddenly become a mainstream concern.
I want to believe that healthcare will become available to everyone.
I want to believe that senior citizens won't have to choose between eating and taking their prescribed medication.
I want to believe a lot of things. I really really want to.
Oh, Obama. You've got a gigantic mess to start cleaning up. I want to believe that you want it bad enough to help empower this country so that we can all start taking care of each other and the world we're in.
That's me, though. Two parts naivete. One part reality. A dash of bitters and a twist of hope.
