I have missed everyone this week! Our car was in the shop and so I was riding the bus this week to my job in Philadelphia, which meant leaving home by 6:20 every morning, usually in a rush. It was an interesting time to take a bus through the heart of our City of Brotherly Love. As the week began, many downtown storefronts were boarded up in fear of rioting and looting after the police shot and killed Walter Wallace. In addition, the city was anxious about the counting of ballots at the Convention Center after Donald Trump tried to undermine democracy by claiming without evidence widespread voter fraud (in other words, a vote against him was a fraudulent vote). By Thursday morning, even I got a little nervous as I listened on the radio to a report that
two Virginia men had been arrested who were allegedly on their way to the convention center carrying weapons. Seeing how the convention center was my bus stop, I was a bit trepidatious about what their intentions might have been. But as I left work on Saturday, it was a completely different scene. The media had looked at the vote count in Pennsylvania and called the election. There was
jubilation and dancing in the streets and I couldn't be more proud of our democratic republic, including our great city.
No BFH today, just a happy note.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU, PENNSYLVANIA!
THANK YOU, GEORGIA, AND ESPECIALLY STACEY ABRAMS!
Here's to a New Day in America, and one in which we can breathe.
Wanders, great post. Tommy, I feel like we've been here before: yawn.
I know we don’t usually do politics here, but I feel that the sense of dread I’ve been living under has lifted. And when Joe Biden quoted “On Eagle’s Wings” last night, my spirits soared. That was my realprof’s favorite hymn.
ReplyDeleteBut back to Santa Royale, where there are no elections, or pandemics, nor droughts, nor wildfires. Only Mary reassuring a dead-end loser that he can still attain that universal goal, twoo wuvv.
Yes! Jubilation, here and around the world. It's an overwhelming sense of relief. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts, Wanders. Now go have a celebratory muffin!
ReplyDeleteI made banana bread yesterday, and accidentally used cornstarch instead of baking powder. Toby, I'm feeling your pain. Anyone need some bricks?
ReplyDeleteI made banana bread too! I had to get rid of some old but useable bananas.
ReplyDeleteI'm Canadian, so I'm just watching this election. I'm glad things worked out in Philadelphia!
Well, okaaaay... Thanks to Carlye, we can now rule out cornstarch as being the secret ingredient.
ReplyDeleteHelenClark
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good quote by ol' Augusten.
Nice story, Wanders. Another interesting chapter in the year of all years.
We were kind of depressed Tuesday night. But when Wisconsin and Michigan flipped on Wednesday and the others started to follow, it turned into a great week. My favorite part yesterday was watching the day-long celebration outside the White House.
Man, did we need that! God Bless America.
-- Scottie McW.
I'm also cheering - hurrah! How fitting that Pennsylvania was the state to put President-Elect Biden over the top. Wanders, you now have a terrific' election-year story to tell your grandchildren someday.
ReplyDeleteI was about to suggest that Tommy would benefit by attending a 12 Step program and finding a sponsor, but KM will demonstrate that Mary's tea and banana bread sympathy will do the trick. "Don't be so hard on yourself" is the most insightful advice ever, isn't it? Tomorrow she can suggest that substance-abuser Tommy dump Brandy for a babe named LaCroix.
Welcome back, Wanders. We missed you. Although, I'm kinda glad I didn't know what you were doing....we were all a little nervous there for a while. Fingers crossed Joe and Kamala can pull off some uniting....Mary, not so much.
ReplyDeleteWe all owe so much to Philly, Detroit, and Atlanta!!
ReplyDeleteAnd in other news, President -elect Biden has selected Mrs. Mary Worth of Santa Royale to serve as his Secretary of Meddling.
ReplyDeleteSaid Mrs. Worth, “I’m thrilled that young Joey has chosen me. I had originally expected to be selected by President Harding, but I blew my chance by meddling in the Teapot Dome situation before I was formally nominated. But I’ve come a long way, all that is in the past, so I can’t be too hard on myself. And now I’m eager to get to Washington and to put my nose into the American People’s business,”.
Special Bulletin: On 9:24 a.m. EST, @meg won the Interwebs today! A 21-muffin salute is pending while President Trump continues to dispute the election results and tweets up a storm IN ALL CAPS.
ReplyDeleteToday: Mary tosses another bunch of celery, which is the secret ingredient in her banana bread (once the celery wilts and becomes flexible), into the fridge while Tommy chugs a glass of gin and tempts fate by calling Mary by her first name instead of Mrs. Worth.
ReplyDelete"That's not true, Tommy! Well, not completely true. I mean, she kind of has a point with the failure part. But you're not all that big a mess. I mean, I've seen worse. You shoulda seen Wilbur. I literally had to talk him down off the ledge. And your mother! Don't get me started on her."
-- Scottie McW.
P.S. Great stuff, meg! You're a hoot!
Thanks; I’ll repair to the Muffitorium for a postprandial smoke now.
ReplyDeleteWonderful comments, everyone! I, too, was rejoicing and recouping after a tense week where I made phone calls to GOTV in Maricopa County, AZ and worked on election protection here in (chumpy) Ohio. Wanders, your story is so disconcerting. In Ohio this year, voter intimidation and electioneering were up 50%. Let's hope that turns around. As a former Pennsylvanian, I am happy that we now have a president from Pennsylvania besides James Buchanan, who was somewhat of a dud. And, as a friend pointed out, we now have the first First Lady with a Philadelphia accent!
ReplyDeleteBack in the Worthiverse, it seems to me that if Tommy is worried about his sobriety, he might want to stay away from that banana bread. Baked goods are definitely Mary's drug of choice. She doesn't say, "come up and let's talk", but "come up for some banana bread", as if she's the Charterstone version of Tommy's "friend" Vin.
"Attention all cars: Be on the lookout for a known baked goods purveyor who answers to the name of Mary. Beware her attempted meddling! Don't fall for her offer of muffins and especially not the banana bread. She doesn't have Gram's secret ingredient and it's not quite as good."
ReplyDeleteLast words of a police dispatcher friendly with Mary Worth.
Hoozah for higher taxes, more regulation, & for tyranny.
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is a new day dawning... with a category 5 tornado in the midst.
Count every legal vote.