Laughing and Crying...

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On election days and during other politically charged days, people here in Sheboygan, WI congregate at the corner of 14th St and Erie Avenue. After I was done volunteering at the polls, I changed to a political T-shirt, made a sign to hold up and headed to join up with them. Not being the "stand around in one place" kind of guy, I migrated to each of the corners throughout the 3 hours I was there. At each corner I struck up converstations with people who agreed as well as with people who disagreed with me. Most of the converstations were friendly and fun, but one older Democrat really got hot under the collar at me. After questioning everything from my military service to my parentage, he just glared at me and said, "All that doesn't matter though because tomorrow morning I'll be laughing and you'll be crying". I had to laugh out loud at that. Here was a guy who had been telling me how much more Democrats care about people than Republicans do, enjoying the prospect of making people cry. As I was laughing, I asked him, "Do you really think I base my happiness on whose butt fills the big chair in the oval office?" I went on to say, "my success or failure in life has nothing to do with who wins elections." This little encounter told me a lot about how this man thinks. Most of his arguments had to do with why "the rich" make "the poor" miserable and how much better life would be if... In other words, he has decided that he can only be happy if he likes who the president is... or if someone else is being made to pay for his misery. All that from a guy who seemed awfully excited about me losing that grin I had while talking to him and enjoying the freedom of assembly and speech on election day in Sheboygan WI. When I heard the news that Obama won, I admit, I was disappointed and there will probably be times I take my frustrations out in discussions here at Mylot and with people around me... but it is nice to know that niether Obama, Bush or any other politician has so much control over my life that I just can't be happy knowing they are in the White House.