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Go Home Dancing In The Streets (literally)

THE PLANK NOVEMBER 5, 2008

Dancing In The Streets (literally)

BY MICHAEL SCHAFFER

I'd shortchanged the dog tonight while I was geeking out with election returns. So I set off on a trot with him once Obama's speech was done. A few blocks away from my house in Philadelphia, I found a block of Baltimore Avenue shut down by about 200 people beating drums, pots, and pans and dancing in the street. It occurred to me I'd never actually, literally seen people dancing in the street. The crowd waved Obama signs, hoisted T-shirts, chanted the victor's name, interspersed with chants of "Yes We Can" and "U-S-A." The scene was your basic Red State nightmare: Marijuana and incense in the air, rings in noses and tattoos on the arms that waved above the multi-hued throng. The gathering took place roughly where hipster enclave, African immigrant neighborhood, and older black neighborhood overlap (there's an Ethiopian restaurant and an anarchist bookstore on the block) and the sense of shared jubillation was evident, in all its cheesy, John Sayles-y glory. Periodically, the crowd would open up to make way for cars, who would oblige by laying on the horn and waving Obama paraphernelia from the windows. Even the public trolleys got in on the act, the drivers honking and waving as they passed. The whole scene seemed surreal: These folks are about to be the champions of the ins of American politics. Having lived most of my adult life in neighborhoods populated by the self-consciously alienated, it's amazing. Sitting back home now, I can still hear the honking of cars outside the window. 

 --Michael Schaffer

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...and in Missoula, Montana, we also celebrated. Even though at this point we don't know the outcome of our state in the presidential election, everyone is jazzed. We left the gathering place where we watched President-elect Obama speaking in Chicago, planning on walking back home.  As soon as we walked outside, we were met with an impromptu parade.  My husband said, "why are they pushing a bed around downtown?"  In fact it was not a bed, but an orange utility cart, on top of which sat a stereo and amp which loudly played "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead" again and again and again.   We marched around downtown for about 30 minutes.  20-somethings and the older 50 crowd, we all were singing, dancing, clapping.  

- krauch

November 5, 2008 at 2:23am

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Same scene in Cambridge, Mass, as well, as Marty could attest (though he is probably asleep by now). Havard Square was a zoo. Hundreds and hundreds of people. I live a few blocks away and the noise drew me out well after I should have been asleep. While there I excitedly called a few people to let them hear the background noise. But my brother said he was outside the White House, at a much bigger party, and a number of friends in NY described similar scenes in various neighborhoods around the city.

- achester99

November 5, 2008 at 2:49am

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Ditto on San Francisco.  Still nervous about Prop 8; if it passes, I want to know if any English readers out their can help me get a work visa over there.

- dylanposer

November 5, 2008 at 2:53am

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Might as well post this here- in the joyous, gorgeous line to get into the ticketed area at Grant Park tonight, I let Bill Ayers cut in line in front of me.  

Stayed at a friends' place til it became certain.  Jumped on the el, and got off right when the West closed.  I was about 8 blocks from Grant Park, but you could hear a roar go up through the city.  Walking to the park, strangers hugging, honking, yelling- pure joy.  

- boneill

November 5, 2008 at 3:24am

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OK, no one will have a story like mine.

Walking home from dropping off kids at school yesterday morning, I felt a little weird.  By 5:00 pm, after much suffering, I was in the hospital hooked up to an IV.  A very fast acting, particularly violent stomach flu.  No poll working, no Harlem party - just toilet hugging and lots of cursing.  I actually thought of Jacob et all and how glad they'd be to hear that I barfed all night last night.  So gentlemen: enjoy your feeble thrill as a heartfelt gift from me.  

Before my husband dragged me out the door to the hospital after the dehydration scenario became too obvious and painful, I waved everyone away and changed in to my Obama shirt after plastering a YES WE CAN bumper sticker on the back.  I grabbed my collection of Obama buttons too, pinned them on in the cab with sweaty, shaking hands.

But the frigging emergency room was a sweet, funny -  sit com funny.  Truly  a blast!  I mean, a blast!  Sick people, half passed out from something o-rather, we're smiling and high fiving at the returns posted on the TV in the waiting room.  I was laying on the floor moaning when they called PA and yelled with happiness. We all did!

Several nurses and doctors doing the intakes had buttons and big, if wan smiles.  "He's gonna do it!" an orderly yelled out to the waiting room crowd (which was small and oddly, for an emergenc room in New York City, contained nothing too frightening or deadly just then, just pathetic treatable but quite incapacitated jerks like me) at one point and danced by with sunglases on while we all laughed and clapped.  

Hooked up to the IV, feeling better, fell asleep.  I woke up to everyone in the place screaming!  WOO-HOO. My husband said "You ok? They just called it - he did it."  I looked up and saw several doctors doing the "raise the roof" dance with each other before they scrurried off - we have a few dr's on these boards, how rare is that sort of display? Rare.  

But the real party was outside - I could literally hear New York City in the streets. My doc wouldn't let me go for another hour but just laying there listening was a treat.  

It wasn't exactly the best place to experience history being made, and do I wish I was in Harlem dancing in the streets? Uh yeah.  

But in its own way, it was great.  Just regular American life - scary but contained - going on yet interspersed with the uncontainable joy of the moment.

Feeling better but have a stupid story to tell everyone, how embarrassing.  Imagine telling my grandchildren one day "Gramma was in the emergency room the night Barack Obama changed our history!"

- Wandreycer1

November 5, 2008 at 7:28am

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Wandreycer1, things clearly didn't go the way you had hoped last night, but the turn of events certainly made for a touching and memorable story.  My story is much less exciting, but amazing nonetheless.  My husband and I sat transfixed, unable to do much but smile ear to ear.  I could not stop the tears  - it was a visceral reaciton. We kept watching the numbers come in and our jaws were dropping every few minutes.  At last, shock and awe that doesn't involve invading a country or dropping bombs!

- Lyn39

November 5, 2008 at 8:03am

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Similar scenes of street celebration here in Lawrence.  And a much thinner attendance than usual at my 9 a.m. class; I'm sure this is just a coincidence...

- cspencef

November 5, 2008 at 11:21am

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