One day someone will ask you... Where were you or what were you doing when Barack Obama took the oath and made history as the first President of African/American decent.
So, where were you? What were you doing?
I will tell my questioner that I was at home in my living room and I watched it live on the internet. This will not be an answer that impresses them. It should though. You see they will have always known about the internet and it's enormous store house of knowledge.
There eyes will widen as I tell them that I had never seen a computer (except on tv, "what is tv?" they will ask for they will probably use the internet to watch tv, I do) till I was married. Wow! They will say. I will tell them that my husband sold his beloved computer for enough money to rent us an apartment. He really loved that computer but, he loved me more. I will tell them that we did not have enough money to buy a computer again for another 3 years. I will tell them about the thrill we used to receive when we heard the screeching noise of the computers talking to each other and the "You've got mail" voice of AOL. I will tell them that the internet was paid by the hour charges. I will tell them how excited we were when we switched to a company that offered unlimited internet access, oh the thrill. I will tell them about when Dsl was the latest and the greatest. I will tell them about cable internet. I hope that they will understand how incredible the day was for me.
Regardless of who voted for or why you voted for them, I respect your freedom and choice. That is incredible in it's own right. There was a time not long ago or even far away that this moment could have never happened. But, if you voted based on race then shame on you. If you voted because people told you about all about the candidates then again shame on you, if you voted with out spending hours in research and deliberation then shame on you. People, you have computers and the internet all the knowledge the world has to offer right at your finger tips.
If however you did do your research and deliberate about your choice then I tip my hat to you. In my house we call the computer "the Mystical box of infinite knowledge". When my children have a question and we do not have a book that has a satisfactory answer we look it up.
My hope which is my responsibility to make sure it happens is challenge people and make them accountable for their knowledge or laziness in obtaining knowledge that is freely open to them. We live in a country where our internet is not restricted to only things the government says it's ok for us to see or know. Wow! Go back and read that again please. How incredible is that. So America please stop playing games and flittering away your time every day that you awake alive make sure that take control make it your goal to learn one new thing per day. That will take you 15 mins or less per day.
My second hope is that Americans will stop blaming everyone else for their problems. If you loose your house because you can't afford the mortgage (not loosing a job) because you make 30,000 a year and you bought a 300,000 dollar home it's your fault you know you could not afford that. When the slick banker or real estate agent tried to talk you into it you could have gotten online and looked up your information. I am assuming you have basic math knowledge here but, it is very plain to see. You wanted to impress others with your possessions and now you are paying the price would it have been so bad to live in that 100,000 dollar house. You did not get duped you neglected to inform yourself. You are not fat because Mc Donalds or other evil entities (sorry I am a chef and we all thing food like this is evil) tricked you into thinking that the food sizes were correct or that some how their fried products that sorta resemble food were good for you. You knew that fried food was bad, you knew that eating 1/2 pound of meat was not good for you.
It seems today that people don't think. It's like the warning labels on products or foods, do I really need to tell you not to blow dry your hair while you are in the tub? Take some time and look up warning labels you will be amazed at just how dumb the government has come to believe we are.
So, my fellow Americans please let's not just have hope let's do something about the things we hope to change. Let's empower ourselves with knowledge. It's free, readily available, and easy to obtain. So, when my questioner asks me... I sure hope that I have lot's of wonders to share with him/her about how the world has changed in my life time. It will be a tragedy for America if I have no such changes to talk about.
Thank you for reading my soap box tirade. I appreciate all my dear readers you are all very special to me and I hope that you will have wondrous tales to tell your questioner. Also, it's 2 am as I finish this.