I've been kicking myself for the past week, for the short "essay" I wrote to try and win tickets to the inauguration, plus airfare, hotel, and invitations to all the best parties. I bet lots of you entered too- gave one last donation to the Obama transition team for the chance to be in the Chosen 10. If you won, and got to go, please be kind enough to blog about it with photos. Please.
When I wrote my little paragraph I was feeling emotional anyway, and so didn't tell my personal story for fear of completely bursting into tears, at work. Instead I spoke in generalities about what it means for a country to be truly great, and how I would for the first time be proud of my country, etc.etc.
This is the essay as it should have been written.
What does this inauguration mean to me? It means I won't I have to shave my head again on Tuesday, for one thing, to commence another 4 years of mourning. Instead of wanting to scream and cry every time I hear the news of what's being done in our names, I just might be able to remain calm enough to use my faculties of rational thought and empathy. And not that I've ever personally enjoyed anything above subsistence-level living, but this inauguration brings me hope that someday soon, I may actually get to enjoy life and live my dreams, which have lain dormant more than 10 years. I also might finally get a passport, since I may be able to afford one now, and I won't feel like I have to lie and say I'm Canadian, or hang my head in shame at my American citizenship.
In short, it means I get to change back into a human, after becoming a human volcano for what seems like 10 years.
Since I didn't win (unless they're waiting til tonight to call me), I will be watching it on TV with millions of other Americans, at work, trying not to cry tears of joy. But I probably will anyway. And at the risk sounding trendy, I'm kind of hoping Obama will mention something about that amazing "miracle" plane rescue on the Hudson last week. If I was writing the inaugural address, it would include something about that. To the effect of, see folks, this is what CAN happen, even in a crisis, if everyone remains calm, does their job, keeps a clear head, but most importantly, helps each other out.
This is what can happen, and what will happen from now on, because we will all remain calm and clear-headed instead of shitting our pants and running around like chickens with our heads cut off, screaming, "every man for himself!" like the jackasses who've been running the show for the past 8 years (or 30, depending on how you look at it.) The photo of all the passengers standing on the wings of the plane kind of says it all for me. This is what can happen if we all take care of each other. This is what can happen if we all take responsibility for ourselves, and then help those who are having a little trouble, for whatever reason. It's not up to you to judge if it's a good enough reason or not, leave that up to God. It's only up to you/me/us to help.
This is what can happen. Everyone stays calm. Everyone is rescued. Everyone lives.
Now, Obama is going to have to say it more diplomatically than me, just to be sure people don't take it as a back-handed slam against how 9-11 was handled. That's not what I'm getting at. Well it is, and it isn't. The firefighters, police, and people on the planes and in the buildings did their humanly jobs- they took care of each other as best they could. It's the leaders who failed us, with their inaction and unexplained actions. That sort of thing doesn't set a very good example for the rest of the country. We the people may have been united on September 12th, 2001, but we were very quickly put asunder by the very leaders who should have been using that unity for good, rather than evil.
I'm looking forward to not hating my countrymen anymore, because of a bumpersticker they might have, or a group they belong to. I'm looking forward to feeling good about being an American, and not just smug about being a liberal in a neo-fascist America. It's already starting, but I won't really breathe easy until about 12:35 EST tomorrow. We just got back from the MLK Day Marade here in Denver, and it always leaves me feeling extra mushy about my fellow man, but this year especially. Are whites and blacks making out on the streets, on the buses, spontaneously, yet? Well, no, but there was a lot of dancing in the streets, and you know what that leads to. :)
