This is what I have learned:
The nice guys really DO finish last.
So, Obama is going to be here in Orange County for a town hall meeting, and the administration was giving away 2,000 free tickets at 10am yesterday. Awesome, right? Alex and I planned on getting up at 3 and being there about 4. Well, I get a call from my friend Maria saying there have been people camping out since 4am the previous morning, and the video on the news looked like the line was filling up fast. So, I decided to let Alex sleep and Maria and I trekked over there at about 11:45 to camp out.
We find out that there were 1,000 tickets that had been reserved for officials in the area (people who helped with his campaign, etc), so that leaves the other thousand for us. We were cool with that because once we got there we found out we were about 400th in line.
Awesome!
Maria and I freeze our asses off all night (it really DOES get cold in California, believe it or not) until Alex gets there and we warm up in the car. I catch about an hour of sleep, and the rest of the time is spent waiting, reading Watchmen, eating...and waiting.
At about 8:30am the line starts moving...awesome! I tell Alex to take the blankets and chair to the car and I'll hold our spot so we don't lose it. Right at that moment everyone from the back RUNS past us (mind you, the line streched WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back behind us) and we lose our place by about 200. We were livid, because alot of them were high school kids who had just arrived at 8am (skipping class) and just cruised right on in to the front of the line. Since the cops "didn't see anything", there was nothing they could do (or would do) about it.
Then we find out that the first 500 are given the option to take 2 tickets, and we were told we were in the "grey zone" (we may or may not get a ticket). So we stood in that line for about 3 hours (by this time it was super hot outside), before being told that we wouldn't be receiving tickets.
Right before we walk away from the line, a group of high school students are taunting their friends in front of us with their free tickets they had been able to get. What really gets me is that the majority of the people who got tickets were those who hadn't made the effort to get there and reserve their spot early...people who hadn't been sitting outside all night and losing feeling in their toes, fingers, noses, etc. People who hadn't slept on the sidewalk to save their well-earned spot. These are people who put forth the effort because they NEEDED to see someone they really admire, that some of them idolize. Elderly women who's chances of seeing the first Black president (outside of this moment) were slim to none. Instead, they're screwed over by assholes who just don't care and little high school boys who aren't even allowed to vote yet.
So what I've learned from all of this...is if you really want something, don't worry about right and wrong. Don't worry about who you're screwing over, whether they deserve it more than you or not. Worry about your OWN self and screw everyone else over with no reservations.
My conscience is the reason I'll be sitting at home today at 4pm, instead of in a small room with our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. Damn my parents for teaching me right and wrong at an early age.
So, Obama is going to be here in Orange County for a town hall meeting, and the administration was giving away 2,000 free tickets at 10am yesterday. Awesome, right? Alex and I planned on getting up at 3 and being there about 4. Well, I get a call from my friend Maria saying there have been people camping out since 4am the previous morning, and the video on the news looked like the line was filling up fast. So, I decided to let Alex sleep and Maria and I trekked over there at about 11:45 to camp out.
We find out that there were 1,000 tickets that had been reserved for officials in the area (people who helped with his campaign, etc), so that leaves the other thousand for us. We were cool with that because once we got there we found out we were about 400th in line.
Awesome!
Maria and I freeze our asses off all night (it really DOES get cold in California, believe it or not) until Alex gets there and we warm up in the car. I catch about an hour of sleep, and the rest of the time is spent waiting, reading Watchmen, eating...and waiting.
At about 8:30am the line starts moving...awesome! I tell Alex to take the blankets and chair to the car and I'll hold our spot so we don't lose it. Right at that moment everyone from the back RUNS past us (mind you, the line streched WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back behind us) and we lose our place by about 200. We were livid, because alot of them were high school kids who had just arrived at 8am (skipping class) and just cruised right on in to the front of the line. Since the cops "didn't see anything", there was nothing they could do (or would do) about it.
Then we find out that the first 500 are given the option to take 2 tickets, and we were told we were in the "grey zone" (we may or may not get a ticket). So we stood in that line for about 3 hours (by this time it was super hot outside), before being told that we wouldn't be receiving tickets.
Right before we walk away from the line, a group of high school students are taunting their friends in front of us with their free tickets they had been able to get. What really gets me is that the majority of the people who got tickets were those who hadn't made the effort to get there and reserve their spot early...people who hadn't been sitting outside all night and losing feeling in their toes, fingers, noses, etc. People who hadn't slept on the sidewalk to save their well-earned spot. These are people who put forth the effort because they NEEDED to see someone they really admire, that some of them idolize. Elderly women who's chances of seeing the first Black president (outside of this moment) were slim to none. Instead, they're screwed over by assholes who just don't care and little high school boys who aren't even allowed to vote yet.
So what I've learned from all of this...is if you really want something, don't worry about right and wrong. Don't worry about who you're screwing over, whether they deserve it more than you or not. Worry about your OWN self and screw everyone else over with no reservations.
My conscience is the reason I'll be sitting at home today at 4pm, instead of in a small room with our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. Damn my parents for teaching me right and wrong at an early age.