Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Can't live in this country this week and not talk about it

So. It was kind of a big week here in the good old U S of A. I saw the Wrestler, Tom Colicchio saved some guy's life and a nice gentleman by the name of Barack Obama became our 44th President.
I'll get to Tom and The Wrestler later. Let's chat about the new prez.
Everyone I know....everyone (!) is pumped. I am pumped. Here comes some change, change is good........but here's my thing.
Everyone that I am friends with on myspace and facebook has made some status comment within the past week about this event. "Tears of Joy"..."I never thought I would see this in my lifetime"...."His speech made me weep".
Getting a new leader doesn't make me cry, I'd like to think that in my lifetime (which still has a way to go, I hope) that my generation would step up and make some of these changes happen...um...kinda like we just did in November and frankly while I thought his speech was nice, I was not necessarily moved by it...it was a realistic speech about all the hard work we have ahead of us as a country.
And here's another thing...
Ty and I were chatting during the Inauguration (living geographically so close to where it actually happened my husband's school canceled classes for the day and he got to hang with me...I already had the day off) and we both sat there wondering why we weren't more excited, more moved, more...well...anything. And I think I figured it out.
We're gonna have a new President...every 4 to 8 years. And while I appreciate that this was a historic event that we all were a part of, I also recognize that he is human and is going to make mistakes and piss all of us off.
And about this whole "historic" event. Yep, sure was. But I feel, as a 31 (almost 32) year old, white, middle class woman, I don't really get to say that.
Here's why.
I was raised and continue to be a very open minded, tolerant person. I would like to say that I don't see color but that's not realistic....what is realistic is that I never for once thought that we would never have an African American person leading our country...and you wanna know why?
Because I am not black. I can read about racial struggles in every history book ever written and never come close to realizing the struggles of a black person in America (or any other minority except for women). I don't really get it and I never will.
This does not make me a bad person. What this makes me is a very idealistic person in a very screwed up world.
So while my friends wear their hearts on facebook, I keep mine a little bit closer. This election was historic for this country, not necessarily for me. I would like to think that we can make this happen again and again...choosing the right guy for the job, that is. And I can just sit back and quietly think about how fucking cool this is.
And...um...The Wrestler was just ok although Mickey Rourke was amazing and I actually don't know anything about the Tom Colicchio stuff but I will be watching him on Top Chef tonight.

3 comments:

Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada said...

For me it wasn't about his race, it was about having hope in a president for the first time in my life. I do however think it is pretty awesome that we finally did elect a president who doesn't fit the same demographics as the first 43. I actually did get teary eyed, but that happens to me a lot, I am very sentimental ;)

Bella Spills said...

Do you ever wonder if we'll have a Woman for President in our lifetime?

Sara said...

I don't think it's an impossibility but I have to say that when Hilary was running I was worried that we might have a possible assassination on our hands...it's sad but I thought it.