President Obama Homework Assignment: #1

Share your stories about the work that you're doing:




Here's my first story.

I worked the at the Kaimuki High School polling place on Election Day, November 4th.

I woke up at 4:15am. I sometimes don't get out of work until 4am so it was not my normal schedule. I was originally supposed to work at the Ala Wai Community Center but I got switched at the last minute to Kaimuki High School because they were understaffed. Kaimuki is closer to me distance wise, but the Ala Wai Canal, a dirty river with a billion toxic fish, is between me and the school, so even though I can see the high school from my window, it was a 2 mile route. I don't have a car but I just got a bike.

The bike paths here are horrible. They are in spotty places and never seem to connect. They are not lit at night, or when it's still dark in the ridiculously early morning. There are tree stumps popping out of the ground. There are tree branches that hit you in the head. The paths (and sidewalks) themselves literally disappear underneath your tires.

Perfect Hawaiian weather and riding a bike sucks. That's gotta change.

But they are constantly fixing the 6 lane roads.

What's cheaper to fix? A six lane road or a bike path?

Just saying.

Anyway, I got to the high school at 5:30 am and met my new co-workers. I took a quick tally: 2 people under 18, 2 20-somethings, 5 boomers, 2 "experienced" workers.

For most part, I'd say that everything went smoothly. We had 10 paper ballot booths and one voting machine. Over the course of the day, people overwhelmingly wanted the paper ballots and I didn't see anyone use the evil machine. The paper ballots were put in a scanner and collected. Everything seemed legit and nothing was sketchy (unlike in my last hometown of Los Angeles County, where the entire system is a mess).

The most common problem was registration, but they had a great communication system between the Chairmen and the Office of Elections (Chairmen were all issued pre-paid cell phones). People were being added to the ballot all day, instead of being turned away.

As it should be.

My favorite part of the day was handing a ballot to the couple who were voting for the first time. They wanted to be sure that they were filling the ballot out correctly. The man beamed when he told us they were just approved for citizenship. They were so excited. It was the first of a lot of unforgettable moments from Election Day.

I didn't know that Barack Obama won until after I got home at 7pm, but I had heard enough to be really hopeful. In Hawaii, we are 2 hours behind the West Coast and 5 hours behind the East Coast. The sun was still up when I heard Obama took Ohio. By the time we got our next update, the polls were closed and I no longer wanted to know. I wanted to find out at home.

I raced back and got a call from my boyfriend. He couldn't hide the excitement in his voice. But I still told him, "Don't tell me!" because I was just locking up the bike downstairs. I walked in and the guys had paused the tv on the beginning of John McCain's concession speech and tried pull the "It went badly. Oh, just kidding!" gag, but it was too obvious. Obama had won. In a landslide. Took Colorado, 37,000 registrations purged and all. We overwhelmed the fraud and took our elections back. I didn't realize it until now, but I really wasn't expecting logic to win. I was expecting another 2004.

All I felt in that moment was relief. I didn't jump or cheer or celebrate. I grabbed some food and collapsed, exhausted from a long day and a long two years. A long eight years.

I no sooner hit the couch than Barack Obama began his acceptance speech. The first time I cried was when Barack said, "I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree". I'm so glad he said that.

What a difference 2 terms makes.

Since the election, it's been hitting me in waves. Little waves of happiness come over me when I think of the now possible opportunities. My boyfriend is a mechanical engineer with a passion for energy efficiency. This meant pushing paper during the Bush years, but his opportunities will grow exponentially in a time when the government isn't holding us back. Waiting tables might not be our best option for long.

Maybe I can work somehow towards getting a bike path system in Honolulu. Oahu voted "Yes" to installing a rail transit line from Pearl Harbor to Waikiki. They advertise an integrated system of rail, buses, boats, biking and walking paths on the buses. It's definitely possible in my community.

It's been a few days since the election and I'm still feeling my happy waves, yet still the anxiousness I felt before the election has not completely gone away. There will be a President Obama and the list of opportunities is growing by the minute but the start line is not until January 20, 2009. The Dark Side still has the ring of power. I won't be comfortable until they are completely sidelined.

I want this new Congress, with the support we've given them despite their failures, to use the momentum they now have to get Bush out of office. Don't let him finish his term. For the wars, and the economy, and the bad reputation, and the Constitution destruction laws, and the overall Dickishness. Let's fire these guys once and for all, and turn the historical page a little early.

As a bonus, the removal of Bush and Cheney would give us our first woman President in 2008. The primary battle of "First Woman" vs. "First African-American" would end up in a tie. How beautiful would that be?