The Inaugural Struggle

To say I was excited is an understatement.

I had wept when it was clear Obama had actually won, with no obvious chicanery from the wingnut right.

I had groaned through each of Bush's Orwellian efforts to make us think wrong is right and right is wrong.

I had counted the days until Obama was really and truly President.

So last Tuesday, I was pumped.

First I went to our local (and only non-Walmart) grocery store to buy a Happy Inauguration cake. Call me crazy, but I had expected some red, white, and blue somethings to be available. When I asked, folks looked perplexed. But the bakery lady was happy to put sugary red, white, and blue trim around a white sheet cake for me. In the checkout line, a gentleman said, "It must be someone's birthday." I said, "Sort of. I'm celebrating the Inauguration." He responded noncommitally--a McCain/Palin supporter, no doubt.

I got to campus and began to look for a way to watch the event so that lots of us could watch together and eat cake.

Can we use the auditorium where we could project CNN on to the big screen? No, there's a class.

Can we get someone to channel the useless TVs that blare inane infobits in a constant stream in our main lobby? No, no one is answering the phone.

Can we simultaneously have all the computers in the Writing Lab on CNN (and make it a little open house at the same time)? No, we need some sort of official download something to be able to do that.

At this point, I was near tears and getting angry. I mean, this Inauguration is a big deal! Over a million people were risking hypothermia to be a part of it in Washington DC! I can't get one freaking TV to work so we can watch the first moments of Hope.

Finally, one of the fresh-faced young tutors plugged in her laptop and we were able to huddle around it and see change happen. That's the picture above. A young African-American undergraduate woman sat next to me, and we turned and smiled at each other about a dozen times. I cried more than once. And people ate cake. And it was good.

And I got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.