Victory Brings Vast Change

This story was posted by "Vast" on Btx, and with his permission I'd like to share it with you:

"So I went to get a paper this morning"

"It's been extremely comfortable at night here in south Florida lately and we have been sleeping with the windows and doors open. Hitting the pillows just before midnight we giggled at the sound of a few cars driving by honking their horns and the drivers shouting "OBAMA"!!!! The 60 degree weather makes for sound sleeping here in the south .... minus the constant hum of the air conditioner ... in spite of our joint let down from the outcome of the election ... I slept like a baby. My eyes opened right at 4:30 this morning ... a slight breeze was blowing the shears my wife just put up last week .... palm fronds were lightly rustling from our patio. The only other sound was that of the crickets. My wife was sound asleep ... the dogs at our feet snuggled up on the comforter ... when a thought hit me, "buy a paper before they're all gone"! So I slid as quietly as I could to the side of the bed, dropped my feet to the tile floor ... one good one ... then the other with a cast still on it from reconstructive surgey last month ... reached for my crutches trying not to make a sound and successfully hobbled down the stairs. Pulling a pair of shorts and a shirt from the dryer I slipped on my clothes, found a left foot flip flop, scooped up about $3 in change on the kitchen counter, poured the coins into my pocket, reached for the car keys and began my early morning search for a newspaper box. Not a soul on the road .. didn't expect to see anyone anyway .. which was a good thing as I left my wallet on the nightstand and should I get stopped by a cop for any reason wasn't sure how I would explain driving without out it or what to say to convince the officer I really could drive a car with my right foot in a cast. Driving out of our developement I spotted a car pulled next to a newspaper box so I drove past it, made a u-turn and pulled up just behind the car. A door opened and a young black woman emerged with an arm full of newspapers. Wooohoo! Not only did I beat the rush ... but I get a fresh paper with the new paper smell ... sniffffff ahhh ... couldn't wait.

This was no ordinary morning paper ... it was history right there in a full page color spread! I opened the door, gathered both crutches and headed for the young lady just as she closed the door to the paper box. She looked up at me in the dark, the only light being a streetlight down the street about 40 yards. Guess her night vision was working well as she didn't seem startled ... she simply said, "oh .. sorry ... did you want a paper"? I responded, " yes I do .... especially this morning". She apologized for closing the box and for not giving me a paper for free ... but I assured her it was no problem, I didn't mind paying for a paper. She ducked into her car and handed me one of those fresh ... still warm newspapers and said " here .. take it ... it's free". I took it with one hand while handing her all the change from my pocket ... she smiled the biggest smile, thanked me and asked, Did you vote for Obama"? "Did you vote for Obama" ...... ? That question ran through my morning fogged noggin' again .... Like one of those moments we always hear about when someone slips close to death and their entire life flashes before them. A compilation of every noteable conversation .. every crossroad ... a seemingly endless fast forward view of defining moments in ones life. The entire lifespan of this campaign .. the last two years ... conversation with family and friends .. and of course the debate here at PW. It was all compressed in a moment when she asked, "did you vote for Obama"? In the early morning light ... I didn't see politics. It was a joyous and giddy black woman, standing there talking to a white man at 4:30 in the morning wanting to bubble. She was a bottle of carbonation someone shook endlessly and left on the side of the road to explode ..... it was not the time to answer her honestly. I was not going to slowly loosen the top and let all the pressure out. It was not the time for a political debate .... it was time for one human to feel the excitement of another and help facilitate an outburst that was begging to be let go. "Did you vote for Obama"? I took the paper from her and lied, "yes I did"!

She let loose a smile so large I though her face would crack then shouted at the top of her lungs .... at 4:30 in the morning on a quiet street with some strange white man holding a warm, fresh newspaper. "It's a great day in America"! She jumped into her car and drove off shouting something from her open window ... I couldn't quite make it out .... and didn't need to. Hobbling back to my car trying to hold on to the paper and operate my crutches I clumsily fell into the drivers seat .. tossed the damned metal contraptions into the back seat, layed the paper on the passenger seat, started the car and drove back home. All this time spent debating the candidates .... holding my nose while voting this tuesday and still holding a suspect eye toward the 44th elected President of the United States I remembered to keep this in perspective. No matter how this shakes out we are all Americans. We share equal emotion in that we all have dreams, experience great joy, suffer tragic loss, feel euphoric highs and devistating lows ..... and we are here together hopefully not judging each other by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. - vast out"

Congratulations President Obama