Brooklyn: my off-kilter election day story

posted by Jamila

I live in NYC and it goes without saying that the majority of people around me are not just Obama supporters, but borderline fanatics. In countless ways, they have shared emotional accounts of the past week.

My experience has been more of an outsider looking in, and I find it fascinating, entertaining, and worth sharing:

On election day around 7 p.m. I was leaving a friend's apartment on 5th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn. Walking towards the F train, he looked to his side and asked "I wonder what the lesbians are doing in Ginger's?" Just as I turned to join his gaze into the window of the dimly lit gay bar—shadowy figures with bottles, crowded around a TV screen shining—a burst of cheers resounded. "Obama just won Pennsylvania," he said, regarding the television. We laughed.

That is the beauty of living in New York, you see. You never really have to turn on a television or radio yourself.

As I exited the C train later in Bed-Stuy, I turned the corner and found myself surrounded by a group of men. The lewd comments that ensue in such a situation are normally faded out by my iPod; I'm used to it. But this day was different. "Good evening, sistah," one man bid. "Did you vote tonight?" from another. "Obama," from the third.

I laughed.


Ginger’s Pub
363 Fifth Avenue (at 5th Street)
Brooklyn, New York 11215
United States
+1.718.788.0924
gingersbarbklyn.com