The Finish Line!

And was I ever ready for it. This is what it felt like: there was an election in 2004 that left me, quite frankly, stunned. George W Bush? Again? Really? Where had I been living? Apparently in some insluated bubble. Then, it seemed as though the day after the election, 200 people crawled out of the woodwork and declared their intention to run for the next president of the United States of America!

Bah Humbug, I thought. A little bitter yes, but this is because, despite the world leader tendencies that some have accused me of having, because I was born in a country my parents were not from, I cannot be a president anywhere. At least not anywhere I know of (I am very open to moving to a private island in order to serve as the great leader). But I digress.

They say the election season was about two years long but it feels a heck of a lot longer for me. This time around I had a stake. After tiring of people making decisions that I had absolutely no say in (real or perceived) I was finally able to become a citizen and thus exercise my right to vote. I could lie to you and tell you that I was very blase and uncaring about the whole deal, but I am a terrible liar. I tried to resist. I didn't want to be disappointed as I had been in 2004, but I found myself being sucked in.

It is not such a bad thing though. I mean, isn't it better to vote knowing what is being promised? I mean, how else are you going to hold the president's feet to the fire? However, with an election season way longer than any human's attention span, I had to take many many breaks. This year, however, has been mostly elections, most of the time. I admit I got worked up, I was tempted to throw things at the TV, I shouted at it a lot, even though it never answered me back. And finally, the day arrived.

Let me explain. I left home just after I turned 18, in order to go to college in the US. I went back to Zimbabwe after graduation but had just missed an election. One of the first things I did was register to vote but I moved back to the US two months before the next round of elections. And went through 2 presidential elections where I was not able to vote, as I was not a citizen. Which brings me back to this point - my first presidential vote.

I walked over to the voting center (aka School) and joined the line that was coming out of the building. After being confused several times, I joined the line for my electoral district and just happened to end up in line right behind a guy in my building. Three people joined the line and they live the next block over. We share a courtyard (that none of us have access to). So we bonded by complaining about the dreadfully unmusical windchimes that one of our neighbours has and promised to throw a block party where we would reunite. It took nearly two hours before I was at the booth but the time was spent surrounded by patient and relaxed people.

I stepped behind the curtain to come face to face with what must be the oldest voting machine in the country. I wouldn't be surprised if it was rusty. It was a huge hunk of metal with a big red lever at the bottom and a bunch of knobs on it's face. The instructions were to pull the lever to the right, turn the knobs next to the names you wanted and then to pull the lever to the left. Of course I had a moment of panic - was I sure which way was left or right? Had I turned the knobs all the way? Had I missed anything? Finally I inhaled, pulled the lever to the left and stepped out of the booth. Some poeple get stickers declaring that they have exercised their right. I got a thumbs up from my neighbours and that was good too.

I headed out to work, stopping only to get my free coffee from Starbucks. I then spent a rather unproductive day, wondering how the voting was going around the country. I dashed out of the office to head to the subway. They were setting up an election center at Rockefeller Center and I paused to watch and take photos. I also picked up a map on which to tally the results as they came out, along with a red marker and a blue marker. I then went over to Ben & Jerry's for my free ice cream and headed out to a local bar to meet with friends to follow the results while wining and dining. Mostly wining took place. And me marking off the map, during which I was called both cool and a geek - and you know, cool geek ain't half bad.

The bar was packed, standing room only, with a rowdy crowd that reacted vociferously to any results that came out. The minutes ticked by and some felt the election had been determined as soon as Pennsylvania had been called. I would not be satisfied until it was called for real. I had lived through 2000 where an election was called for one candidate, then the other and then we lived in limbo for weeks. I was not making any assumptions.

Eleven pm rolled around and 30 seconds later the election was called for Barack Obama. The room roared, people wept and those behind the bar popped bottles of champagne that they sprayed all over us. I figured then that I wasn't the only one who had been sucked into the election. HiDef and I then rushed home so that we could actually hear the speeches made by the candidates.

And before I start getting all thoughtful and deep and meaningful about the future, I'll share some photos I took on election day while I try to find out if anyone else is giving away ice cream or cake... just because.