Four days after this country chose Barack Obama as its President, I am still somewhat speechless. It’s still sinking in, I guess. I have watched Obama’s acceptance speech from Chicago at least three times and each time I have cried. I am proud to call myself an American again for the first time in eight years.

A co-worker of mine wrote the email below and shared it with our organization’s staff… an organization that, while non-partisan and not able to show support for any one candidate, was riding on an Obama victory for many reasons.

He captured my feelings perfectly, so I’ll share them with you:

The Real Winners

Who are the real winners of yesterday’s election? Not Democrats. Not liberals. Not progressives. But the dreamers. Those who’ve been shot down, shunned or told to shut up because you dare to think you can when others say you can’t.

In a short amount of years, we watched an organizer become a lawyer, a lawyer become a State Senator, a State Senator become a U.S. Senator, and a U.S. Senator become the first black President of the United States.

All of this on a message of hope, dreams and change. Remember, his story was an “unlikely” one. A modern day Seabiscuit. He was thought to be too small, too inexperienced. But people pulled for him. They saw bits and pieces of themselves in him. In return, he brought the nation (and the world) to a new high when we were all at a low.

Today we walk a little taller. Smile a little brighter. Believe a little stronger. Doubt loss. Hope won. There will be challenges and disappointments going forward. It’s the human way of life. But the world is a different place this morning. It’s okay to dream again.

By Dushaw Hockett
Center for Community Change
November 5, 2008

Yes, we can… and, yes, we did! I look forward to the long overdue changes this country and its people deserve.

Current Mood: Calm/Relaxed & Thoughtful

I don’t consider myself old, really. To some of you, 31 years old might be ancient, but I don’t consider myself an old fogey or anything.

I suppose, though, that I’m a little old fashioned with some terminology, though… specially gay acronyms.

When I came out 13 years ago, the acronym for the gay and lesbian community was GLBT or LGBT. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. At least, that’s how it was explained to me, in all my baby dykedom inquisitiveness.

I don’t know the exact timeline, but sometime later, a “Q” was added to included “queer,” resulting in the acronym LGBTQ.

Ok, no big deal. I’ve met some wonderful self-identified queers who honestly feel the other ‘labels’ don’t apply to them or simply will not classify themselves as just a lesbian or just gay.

So, even though I was used to saying GLBT or LGBT (and still do, actually, as it still does seem widely accepted), I tried to remember LGBTQ… reciting it over and over to memorize it (ok, that’s a lie).

Again, I’m not sure of exactly when, but at some point, another Q was added to the mix, to include those who are “questioning.” The acronym was then LGBTQQ.

And, now, the latest and greatest is LGBTQQIA.

Those last two were added to include “intersex” and “allies.”

I was actually corrected once when I only said LGBT, almost as if I offended the person by not using the “proper” acronym. I’m all for inclusiveness and such, but, damn, that is a freakin’ mouthful!

Current Mood: Cold

There is a small grocery store across the street from my office, owned and operated by (I’m guessing here) a Korean family.  It can’t compare to the mass supermarkets out there, but it has all the basics and then some.  Its convenient location is a positive, but also a negative in that their prices are outrageous on almost every item they sell.  I can walk out of that store with two plastic grocery bags of stuff and have spent $30.

Despite that the checkout process is sometimes painful due to the final amount, I’m all for supporting small businesses, especially when they are minority owned and operated…

But I’ve discovered it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for this store in particular.

Twice now, I’ve purchased food that was spoiled.  Completely unopened in its respective package, and yet spoiled.  The first time, it was frozen broccoli.  The broccoli, while frozen, was yellowish/brownish - like maybe it had been dethawed, allowed to rot, and then refrozen for sale.

I figured it was a fluke and didn’t bother taking it back for a refund.  It was only $3.49 or something like that.

A week or so later, I purchased another $30 or so in food (I buy things for lunch at work) which included more frozen broccoli and some Sargento sliced cheese.  The next day, upon opening both, I discovered the broccoli was in the same condition as before and a few slices of cheese had actually started sprouting mold.  Again, since I didn’t have the receipt or the desire to seek a refund, I just threw everything into the trash.

My next visit to the store, I actually took note of their entire selection of sliced and grated cheese.  None of them had ‘use by’ dates.  I thought all perishable items were required to have this for the simple reason that stores could otherwise leave the products on their shelves longer than they should be.  I also noticed their prepackaged lettuce and salads were the same and some were wilting and brown.

I don’t want to stop going there altogether, simply because I have no other grocery store option close by.  I really need to say something to them next time I’m there, though.  Selling bad produce and dairy is just wrong.

Current Mood: Sick