Like millions of other people in various time zones around the world, I got a rude awakening that wasn’t my alarm clock this time. I considered a few things, foremost of which was to roll over and go back to sleep. What? This can’t be real.
If I were into science fiction, I’d be talking about a TARDIS right now, but I haven’t watched Doctor Who since I was a child so I’m calling it a time travel machine. Regardless, we could use one of those to turn back the clock a day. Maybe if more people voted. Maybe if people wouldn’t let fear be a driver in making a decision. Maybe, maybe, maybe. It’s too late now.
I volunteered this morning, so the day wasn’t a total wallow. But I couldn’t help but reflect upon the fact that I was spending time with the very people Trump blamed for all America’s ills, but in a different country. As a person ejected from the U.S. in 2006 due to policy, I wanted to tell them how much worse off they’d be if they were in an American detention center. But I didn’t, because they probably wouldn’t believe me. Life is cruel enough, without a Cruelty Olympics.
During the Canadian federal election process a year ago, I’m quite certain my anxiety meter was at a normal level. Today seemed very different, and it’s not even my country. But the nastiness appears to be spreading beyond borders. Are we all underestimating people’s capacity for accepting disparaging remarks towards minorities and women? Is it possible to denounce a candidate’s words while at the same time voting for that person? People did, and did they ever.
Trying to unravel this idea in the afternoon, I tripped while walking Ice the Dog, landing hard on my knees and hands on cobblestone pavement. My phone was in my left hand, unfortunately the same hand which broke most of my fall. Hours later, my palms are tender and sore from smacking the pavement, my knee is rebelling, and the phone looks like it got into a fight with another phone — and lost.
Can we have a do-over of November 8? And 9, while we’re at it?
Photo: LX Factory, Lisbon
August 15, 2016
Album: Lisbon 2016