A first-person account from election day 2016.
Today was a Tuesday. The high was 57 degrees and there was no chance of rain. It was a nice autumn day, the kind of days that make you never want the first snow to fall. It's November 8th, 2016. The day we elect the 45th President of the United States.
I woke up and forgot what the day even was until I opened Facebook, suddenly remembered, and began to get excited. Today was the day America was going to elect its first woman President. That was at 11:30 a.m.
It is now 10:03pm. I have been watching election coverage for about two hours and with each minute that passes by I begin to get more and more nervous. I watch as Hillary is losing some states and trailing behind the scariest man to ever walk the planet. I don't mean scary in a Presidential way, I mean scary as in if I was alone in a room with him, I would be dumping my pants.
I sit here and wonder how anyone could vote for a man that makes most people feel that nervous. A voice for the people? How about a voice for the white male. I sit here and wonder how someone could vote for their children's future and think that they want to put it in his hands. As a future educator, I don't want to have to explain what kind of outcome "grabbing her by the p*ssy" gets a person other than Donald Trump (and in case you need clarification, thats jail time, people).
I sit here and I think of you. I don't even know you yet and I don't know if you'll even exist but the only thing that comes to my mind about the outcome of this election is you. It brings tears to my eyes to know that this country could elect a man so evil to so many different kinds of people, including you.
One day you will learn that you have to be afraid to walk alone at night. One day you will learn that sometimes a boy you trust will get a little too hands-y a little too quickly. One day you will learn that even if you're really good at Chemistry, the world will try to tell you that you aren't. One day you will learn that being a woman means letting a man go first. But tonight, I don't want this to turn into another lesson for you.
I want tonight to prove that you can be anything you want. You could tell that guy that tries to "grab you by the p*ssy" to go shove it. You could walk home alone and not turn your head every 5 seconds to make sure you're safe. You could be a doctor or a dentist or an astronaut. Or even, the President.
I don't know the outcome of this election yet. But the one thing I do know is that even if the world elects the mysoginistic, egotistical, peverted orange troll that says awful things about Muslims, Latinos, Blacks, and women, you can still do anything you want. I hope and pray that the outcome of this election, good or bad, unties women and makes us stronger. I hope that you grow up in a world where even if you are walking home alone, the group of girls behind you will make sure you are safe. I hope that if you are in a situation with a man you can't get out of that someone will help you even if they don't know you. I hope that you are educated and encouraged to be a chemistry star if that is what you want. I am not only with Her, I am with all Hers and what we can do for each other.
I hope America makes the right decision tonight and my daughter will have one more woman role model to look up to. Because, no matter the outcome, she will forever be one to me anyway.
(But please don't elect Trump.)
