the Obama Presidential Spirit — september thirteenth twenty eleven

today, I saw the President of the United States of America.

Let me begin by saying that some may not view me as a very patriotic person, and that is okay. I am grounded with what I believe is wrong or right and aware of the boundries that I believe the government should have, but this post is not about that.

Today began rough. My best friend and I intended to go see President Obama speak, but did not have tickets. At about 10:45 am we learned that you could pick up tickets if you made it to the venue by 11:30 am and the speech began at 2:15 pm. So we thought we had ample time to go get the tickets, come home, change clothes, and head out around 1 pm. —-THIS WAS NOT THE CASE— We arrived at the venue around 11 am and people were already there, dressed and waiting in line….we were lost in the sauce, as some might say. Through all of the confusion, I coincidentally stood in line directly behind my seventh grade social studies teacher. 

This teacher just happened to have two extra tickets, so my best friend and I were taken care of. The next concern was tickets for my brother and mother….luckily my best friend and I are friendly and made friends with a woman that had a neighbor that was at the ticket table, she gave us the other tickets, literally within seconds of us walking in the gate.

This post isn’t about any of that. (Though I’d like to thank God for looking out, and mention that coincidentally I just had a dream about seeing the president literally five days ago).

I may be politically ignorant. I can admit that I do not know as much about politics as I would like to. So I will not take sides on issues, I will simply state what I witnessed.

What I witnessed was a large group of people standing in a hot sun-filled afternoon in a field with minimal shade, for hours. But standing in this group of people of all faiths, colors, genders, sexualities, ages, I felt a sense of unity. All of the people there came together in a rallying spirit to support President Obama. It was as if the seperation of us physically was an illusion. People were very  kind and courteous. People would speak to you and make friends as we stood for hours, to the point that their body language would change to suggest that they were open and willing to communicate.People went as far as to make physical contact with others while in conversation in an endearing manner. People helped one another to water, and even to hail medical attention for the people that succumbed to the heat. There were not any acts of violence or belligerence. One woman even came to offer to fetch a glass of water for my mother, and fulfilled her commitment to bring the water.

In my years, I have yet to see an individual, hell, the thought of an individual unite so many people so quickly. This is the making of a president. 

People must remember that the President does not have all of the power, he cannot make decisions alone, there is a system of checks and balances. The president is not a god (God), he is an elected representative of the masses…which is what I witnessed today. 

L(i)VE out LOUD

Anwan