Calling in the Waaaaaaahbulance!
Posted on 11/07/2004 11:44:21 AM PST by kattracks
The day Sen. John Kerry conceded the election, Dorre Kleinman, 35, was in a horrendous mood. She was trying to get on the subway with her 1-year-old daughter, who was in a stroller."I swiped my card and signaled for the token-booth person to buzz me through the wheelchair entrance," says Kleinman, who lives in Brooklyn Heights. "He claimed I didn't swipe my card. I demanded that he let me in, and he refused, so I started screaming and yelling. Finally, just to shut me up, he let me through. As I walked by his booth, I gave him the finger and yelled, 'I bet you voted for Bush!'"
Approximately 75% of New Yorkers voted for Kerry. And since Black Tuesday, Democrats in this city have been, to say the least, collectively despondent. We're in shock. We cry sometimes. And we're seething with anger, primarily directed at those stinkin' Red Staters.
Erica Boeke, 35, is so distraught, she's thinking about dumping her Republican boyfriend, who grew up in — big gasp — Iowa and Idaho. "We were having issues about the election for months, but I thought it was just kind of a playful banter type thing," she says.
"He would taunt me about how great Bush was and how much he loved Laura Bush. I was disgusted, but thought it was something we could overcome — like Carville and Matalin or Schwarzenegger and Shriver," says Boeke, who lives in Hell's Kitchen and works in publishing. On the night of the election, we had a huge fight, and I couldn't even talk to him or look at him. Then, I came to the realization that he kind of looked like W! This is when I decided that I might not be able to get beyond this."
Are we acting irrationally? Are we overly emotional? Is it justified?
"I think many of us are pretty traumatized," says Manhattan therapist Gerri DiBenedetto. "But while it's normal to be so angry, it's not appropriate to scream at token-booth people. You're so furious you want to let it out. That's fine, but you have to do it in a much more mindful and less destructive way."
What's important to remember, she adds, is that you're not alone in your grief. That many of us have been wandering around the city in a fog, shedding some tears, ordering in Domino's Double Melt pizzas, unable to work because we spend the day furiously E-mailing anti-Bush propaganda, doing whatever it takes to make ourselves feel better.
"I cheered myself up by eating pastries and drinking caramel macchiatos," says Nina Johnson, 29. "They were only momentarily distracting, but better than sitting alone in my office and crying."
Jessica Lothstein, 25, was able to release her anger and pick up a new skill at the same time. "I learned how to sew just so that I could make a voodoo doll in the shape of Ohio," she says.
Amy Zapton, a 32-year-old Manhattanite, is also getting crafty. She recently bought two new "I voted for John Kerry" T-shirts and plans to make a pillow out of one and a shirt for her dog with the other.
DiBenedetto approves, adding that focusing on a hobby is a great way to heal — much better than obsessively watching TV and shouting profanities or throwing things at Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer, who we thought were our friends the last six months.
AVERTING THEIR EYES
"I feel like I've been shot," says Cecile Cross-Plummer, a 36-year-old publicist. "I'm a news junkie, but I can't watch CNN anymore. It's too much. So now I only watch the Cartoon Network, ESPN and Comedy Central."
DiBenedetto recommends turning off the TV, getting off the couch and getting some exercise, which, we all know, is a great mood enhancer.
Andrew Stone, 27, and his friend found the boccie court at his local Brooklyn bar Floyd to be a healing salve.
"Boccie is low-impact and relatively quick to master," says the magazine editor. "Plus, you can do it with one hand, while the other is securely fastened around a third or fourth beer."
On a serious note, DiBenedetto warns that boozing it up to ease the pain is not the best answer. "That's just self-destructive, and then you're letting the Republicans win," she says.
DiBenedetto also advises against getting into "political discussions" with family members with opposing views for the time being. "You can get into some really heated battles. It's healthy to protect yourself in that way."
Even if that means not talking to your relatives until the wounds begin to heal. "I'm just not going to call my grandmother," says Tracy Larson, a 30-year-old actress in Manhattan. "I'm pretty sure that she'd gloat. She gloated about the Red Sox winning. I'm hoping that Bush screws it all up before Christmas so that I can gloat."
So, when will the hurt, the heaviness and the pain end? Will we all be in a major depression for four more years? "Our bodies won't allow it," says DiBenedetto. "We'll find ways to turn the negative energy into something positive."
Heather Leo, 29, is doing just that.
"I'm going to make T-shirts that say 'Obama in 2016,'" she says, referring to the newly elected senator from Illinois, whom many regard as a rising star in the Democratic Party. "We need to start grooming that guy now!"
All Apologies
In a city where so many of us did vote for John Kerry, it's tough for New Yorkers to endure international criticism like that found on the cover of Britain's Daily Mirror, which asked "How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?"
But if you're agonizing about how the rest of the world views the President's reelection, you're not alone. And the folks at www.sorryeverybody.com are providing a handy forum for Americans who'd like to apologize for their fellow citizens.
Simply write your message to the world on a piece of paper and have someone snap a digital photo of you and your mea culpa. Then E-mail it to sorryeverybody@gmail.com. Others have already turned in the following sentiments:
"Sorry, world (we tried) — Half of America"
"Half of Ohio is really, really sorry. Don't hate us."
"49% of us still hate Bush."
And, for the true internationalists:
"Yo soy apesadumbrado, muy, muy apesadumbrado! Sono spiacente! Ik verontschuldig me!"
Isaac Guzman
Originally published on November 7, 2004
I doubt they were this distraught on 9-11. Or if they were, they soon forgot about it.
actually, they seem to be mentally ill. i'm glad the guy supported by the mentally ill didn't win this election.
All I can say is what is wrong with those people! We live in the United States of America and we all get behind our President even if we don't agree with them. New York is filled with spoiled brats. They are throwing temper tantrums because they didn't get their way. God help us all.
Calling in the Waaaaaaahbulance!
Yeah, just stay comforted knowing that the guy who wanted to get France's permission before taking on the terrorists didn't win.
You New Yorkers have shorter memories than my 3 year old.
Hmmm... Like 90% of the people in this country who live outside a rat infested major city?
Why would we want to defend these people?
Dude, your chick is a psycho bitch.
Gather as much as you can carry and run. Do not give her your new address or phone number.
This article is everything I hoped it would be. *smile*
Now they know how we felt when won.
I was in a bad mood the day Clinton was elected, no one wrote a story about me.
Whoops, I meant the night when Clinton won.
An admission of vote fraud?
They are making it sooooo much fun to gloat.
Rush always says that liberals are hysterical and unintentionly hilarious when they're out of power. The hysteria and crying has just started. In another few weeks, the implications of the Bush victory will start to sink in, and the liberals are going to blow a gasket. It will be fun to watch. In my extremely liberal WA county, its even more fun to gloat. Democrat losers!
Well, in fairness, I never got behind Clinton during the dark eight years he was in power.
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