Yesterday night, Elaina and I headed out to the streets to try to find a bar that was having an Election party. We probably walked a mile around my neighborhood, trying to find a place that we could actually move in and eventually opted for a small restaurant close to my home. Inside, people were giddy with anticipation, standing on top of chairs to try to get a glimpse at the television while others were playing Obama trivia and drinking Obama-themed drinks. A woman was at the bar frantically checking the news on her laptop and, even before the West-coast states were announced, lifted it to wave the news of Obama’s projected win on The Huffington Post.
Elaina and I had just ordered drinks when the official news of Obama’s win came abruptly on the screen. Suddenly, the entire bar was screaming. People were jumping up and down on chairs, hugging each other, and chanting “O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!” over and over again. Soon after, people started streaming out onto the streets. Desperate to get out and join the action, Elaina and I found the waiter, practically threw our money at him and dashed out of the restaurant. On the street, it was complete madness. A pair of women had brought huge American flags and were running up and down the street with them. Bicyclists were racing around in circles blowing on whistles, cars slowed down and honked their horns as they drove by. We walked a few blocks away and the celebration was even more intense. A huge crowd had gathered in the middle of the street stopping traffic all together. Fireworks were being set off at regular intervals while chants of Obama’s name and “YES WE CAN, YES WE DID!” echoed through the air. It was beyond amazing to see so many people of all different backgrounds coming together and just FREAKING OUT.
When the news that Obama was about to give his acceptance speech started to get around, everybody in the crowd quickly quieted down, “shushing” each other for silence. There wasn’t room inside of the restaurant that people were all flocking into, so many people headed over to a car that had its car radio turned up. Everybody remained quiet as Obama spoke, but the silence was broken every so often with cheers every time Obama said something inspirational.
