Upstairs from me at work, there are men and women who are perfectly coiffed, decked out in business casual, drinking flavoured coffee from paper cups, discussing TV shows.
One woman of Afro-Caribbean descent stops by her melanin-deficient co-worker's cubicle:
"So who would you vote for tomorrow?" she asks. "If you could vote in The States".
She looks baffled, as if she hadn't really thought about it.
"I don't know..who would you vote for?"
"The black one."
"Um..." She giggles. "Yeah, me too, I guess."
This election has often reminded me of that SNL skit from 20-some-odd years ago in a sketch called Fernando's Talk Show:
Chad: Who's your favorite ghostbuster? Consuela: I like the black one. Chi Chi: The black one? He didn't do nothing. Consuela: But he was ghostbuster. They didn't give him enough to do, but he would have been a great ghostbuster if they had given him great ghostbuster job and said, "Go do that and be successful with it."
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Wednesday is Bring Your Kid to Work Day. No, not your toddler. Your Grade 9. Sound familiar?
Four years ago, there was this really ugly election, where a decent - if spectacularly uncharismatic - guy was defeated by smear and obfuscating language in one of the ugliest and most baffling elections I have ever witnessed south of the border.
When I got to work the next day, puffy eyed and deflated, it was a surreal scene: There were dozens of models in lingerie traipsing about the hallways and grade nine students being taken on tour, and me, bawling in the bathroom and late for a Neilson Ratings meeting.
Whether Obama wins or loses tomorrow, it will be a different day Wednesday than it was that day four years ago. For one, it has been amazing to see the grace and power behind the Obama campaign that seemed to rise above personal attacks, that kept the tone dignified and thoughtful throughout.
Even in the mind-numbing repetitiveness of his message, he feels like a man who is completely alive, intellectually curious, and generous. And here's the thing: I don't care if he is not all the things we project onto him. In fact, I know it is impossible for him to fulfill our expectations - that we most often elect leaders who are part mascot, part human.
But when we elect a leader, I think we also try to emulate their persona. And I would like to enter an era where we are all trying to emulate the dignity and generosity that I have perceived in Obama's campaign.
Also: This election it feels like democrats are voting FOR someone they like rather than casting a vote against the incumbent.
Here I would like to add that Gabriel is also pro-Obama, but that's not true. He pointed at the TV a lot yesterday and said "Man! Man!" whether it was McCain or Obama. But then when Bruce Springsteen came on the Teevee, he was smitten: "Man is singing!" After some coaching, we got him to call Bruce "The Boss".
"Boss singing!"
I figure I'll have lots of time to teach him to say Obama.
