The night of the election, I went to bed early. It had been a long two days at work and I was tired. I could see where things were headed, but I had hoped that I was wrong. At around 5:00 in the morning, I woke up. Sitting next to me on my nightstand was my phone. I knew that I could either try to go back to sleep, or I could check my phone and see the notifications from BBC and NPR and find out who officially won. Temptation got the better of me and I found out that Trump would become the next president. I spent the next two hours laying in bed wondering what this meant. I thought about what this meant for the economy. What a modern Great Depression would be like. What does this mean for my friends in the LGBT community? Or my friends who are minorities? What does this mean for all of us? For two hours these thoughts bounced around in my head as I waited for the alarm to go off and my day to begin.
While getting ready for work I wondered if the day would feel different. According to Facebook it was both the start of something great and the beginning of the end. We had found the president who was going to bring an end to the political establishment and who was going to bring an end to the United States of America. There was hatred from both sides. Trump supporters mocking those who are upset with the results. Hilary supporters hating everything about the new president and those who voted for him. The country, which has felt so incredibly divided, seemed to grow farther apart. And I wanted to join in. After the shock had worn off, I was mad. I wanted to complain. I wanted to join in on the fighting and the arguing. But I disconnected from from the world for a bit and went about my day.
While it would have been easy to give into all of the hatred, I just wanted to move on. This was the worst election ever. It brought out the worst in a lot of people. I don't blame anyone who is worried or fearful. I can't tell anyone else how or what to feel. I'm just going to do my best to remain optimistic. I have no idea what president Trump will be like. He may be the shittiest president ever. He may surprise us. But I won't let the results of this election dictate my life. I will move forward with hope because I know that tomorrow morning, the sun will come up and we all get a fresh start again. I have friends and family on both sides of this. If you support Trump, fine. Don't be an ass about it. Remember the fears you had when Obama was elected. If you're against Trump, fine. This doesn't have to be the end. No one knows what the next four years will bring. Let's find some common ground and move on from the past year and a half together.
