O.K., So I am the cops...That's what I do and have done for twenty- something years. Something strange was happening around the police station in the days leading up to the election, and on election day...
Now as I walked through the station and looked at the various cubicles with the "W" stickers and pictures of George Bush and John Wayne plastered on the corks,(Didn't see anything for McCain, but I know a repub cop cubicle when I step in it), I sensed an unease, a nervousness in the air without anything being said. But understandably so; 90% were Republicans, in my guesstimation...I work the street, so I don't deal with the office gossip and cubicle issues, I handle more pressing moments. But no one really talks about political preferences; it's kind of semi-taboo in the workplace.
Election afternoon was really quiet; nothing going on, so me and three other uniforms decided to get some dinner at a local restaurant that had a big screen. I guess we sat down just when electoral votes really began swinging for Obama, maybe around 230 or so. One guy was a new guy; didn't know much about him, the second was an overtime guy I had never seen before. The third, I knew. He was wearing an "I voted" sticker in the middle of his badge. He leaned over, and in a quiet voice, asked, "So, who did you vote for?" I answered, "The smart guy. You know, the intelligent one".. He looked at me, unable to figure it out, (I guess he was thinkin' it was McCain!). "Obama, Barack Obama". "Oh, I voted for McCain", obviously upset. "It's great you voted", I said, trying to calm him down a bit.
Pretty soon, the results were in. I could barely contain myself, but being in uniform, could not act that part of it out; I would have to wait until I got off work to jump up and down and cry for the good of humanity. I told my friend, "Obama will do just fine in the White House". I couldn't say anything that would rub the victory in, but my head was fucking exploding with joy inside.
McCain gave his concession speech, and I told my friend, "Boy what a gentleman. Sure wish that was the guy that campaigned for President. It would have made for a tighter race, I suppose". He said, "Yeah, he made some mistakes in this one". Then, before we knew it, Barack was taking the stage for his acceptance speech. And he started to get down, like he always does when he speaks. Well, not two minutes into it, my friend abruptly gets up, throws a twenty dollar bill on the table for dinner, and says with a kind of disgusted look on his face, "I gotta go". And then he impatiently walked out. "Whoa", I thought, "Somebody's got the blues here". The other two guys split also. After that, I got to relax a bit, and smile, because it seemed like everyone in there voted for the man on center stage; and they were very animated.
Two hours later, I get a call, way up in the hills above the city. It was a loud party call, and I had no backup unit. It was just me. So I pull up the long driveway to the house and parked my cruiser. As I got out, I could hear a kick-ass blues band playing, the guitarist was excellent, (I play). I could immediately tell it was an election victory celebration, and the crowd, (200-300+ people), was 20-40 something, kind of hippie types, with some very adorable women walking around. The smell of marijuana wafted freely, it seemed kind of Woodstocky,(Almost ran way from home for that one!), kinda cool. I found the homeowner and told him I was here because of the loud music; someone had complained, so he agreed to start winding it down. After all, it was nearing 12 midnight and some neighbors probably had to work early on Wednesday. Then I was cornered by about 10-15 very stoned people and they directly asked me who I voted for, in a friendly way. I took my right hand and touched my index finger to my thumb to form the shape of an "O". Everyone busted out with cheers, and high fives for me. Cute women gave me hugs and kisses on the cheeks, and one said, "What time do you get off, you should come back here". Sadly, I had to work until 7am the next day.....
I couldn't have had a better election night if you paid me!....Wait... you did!