The Day I Saw President Obama

Today might come in second place (to my wedding) as one of the most exhausting and rewarding days of my life. The reality of it hasn’t set in, but today–for about 20 glorious minutes–I saw the President of the United States.

I don’t get into politics here on the blog, and I’m not going to start today. I don’t like politics, frankly. To me, President Obama is so much more than a politician. And it was almost bittersweet to see him in the flesh because it means that he really is just a human being even though I think we can all agree he’s not your average human being. I was shocked at how he is EXACTLY as I thought he would be and as he always seems on television. Insanely charismatic, subtly humorous, deeply passionate, humbly eloquent, and ridiculously good looking. Do I sound like I’m in love? I am. Have been ever since the first time I heard him speak. (Don’t worry, Jason’s cool with it. He’s got a full on man crush himself.) Who Obama is and what he’s accomplished means so much to me as a Black American, as a woman, as a young person, as someone with very little money, as a dreamer, as a student, as a (soon-to-be) lawyer, and as a human being. 

I have to give you a taste of what we endured to get our 20 minutes of “heaven” with the President. The morning started WAY earlier than my mornings ever do, and we got dressed and ready for the hour drive to Norfolk, VA. Some of you may have seen me on Instagram this morning:

We arrived in Norfolk at 5am and finally found a place to park and a good spot in line by 6am. Then came a long and grueling 4 hour wait for the doors to officially “open”. No chairs allowed. Fun times.

This wouldn’t have been so bad but frantic college kids insisted on cutting us (and many others) in line many times and at one point near the end there was a weird mob rush to the gate that resulted in us being trapped in a very tight and sweaty crowd for a really fun half hour. Once the doors finally opened, everyone pushed their way through the gates and we went through the airport-style security checkpoints to get to the main venue for the event.

Then, for another 2 very fun hours, we waited some more. The heat was oppressive at that point. I was literally pressed up against a sweat drenched crowd on all sides of me, and people were passing out left and right from the heat. No joke. The paramedics were busy. A lot of the elderly ended up having to leave. I literally saw the woman next to me get all wobbly and slowly fall to the floor as her eyes rolled back into her head. The things people will do for Obama! 😛

I just hunkered down, gripped my camera tight, kept my head down (literally, it was shadier that way…), and waited. It was probably the most uncomfortable (and sweat soaked) I’ve ever been in my life, but once Obama walked onto the stage that all melted away. I couldn’t control the huge grin on my face and the tears welling in my eyes to actually see him standing there and waving at all of us while flashing that infamous smile. I could feel the positive energy suddenly burst out of the crowd–that same crowd that two seconds before was so incredibly weak and despondent from the conditions.

Call me naive but I feel like Obama gets me. Not me specifically, but ME as in a regular person with regular struggles and big dreams who just wants to do the absolute best they can in life. At one point he quoted something Romney recently said, that a good way for college bound kids to fund their education would be to just borrow money from their parents instead of taking out government loans. (???..I hope I don’t need to explain why that is ridiculous…) Obama’s reaction to that statement:

He gets me.

I’ll leave you with a shaky video I took that’s often blocked by the head of a very excited woman that was in front of me. At least it’s in HD!

P.S.- I will try to make this the last love letter I write to Obama on the blog. I know politics and food don’t mix. 🙂

Question for YOU: Have you ever met a President before? Would you like to if you haven’t already?