A reader asks Matt whether he was in Chicago’s Grant Park on Election Night, as Presidential candidate and now President-Elect Barack Obama gave his victory speech.

Matt responds:

I was very, very proud to be a Chicagoan that evening, although my favorite place to be is not in a crowd.

I’ve been invited many times to go to different boxes where you can watch football games and other events, and I can count on one hand the times I have been in those positions. I wake very early in the morning, sometimes 4 or 5, so I like to go to bed about 9pm.

I had voted early, so I had things to do on Election Day.  Afterwards I went home, planted myself in front of the TV, and watched until the last scene of the great Chicago event was broadcast. I listened to the speech of unity by John McCain and the absolutely incredible speech by Barack Obama.  I think this country is very blessed to have our new leader, with his ability to talk to us about very important subjects.

I have many friends overseas, and after midnight, my phone rang off the hook...  The calls kept rolling in until 2 or 3 in the morning, to congratulate us on such a ground-breaking election.

I know many people who were down in Grant Park, and it was wonderful to hear their stories, but my preference is to sit, probably by myself, thinking about what I’m watching and periodically jumping up and yelling and screaming to myself like a crazy man.  During this whole election season, as we went through all these many months of political activitiy, sometimes I’d be screaming with glee and sometimes with rage.  But the only one who would have witnessed it would have been my dog, if I had one!

I should record myself with sound so I can see what I’m doing while I watch the television.  I react as if I’m a crowd of one.  I’m as agitated or as happy as everybody in the actual audience.  That’s one of my many idiosyncrasies.

I have a friend who owned one of the major baseball teams.  I’ve always been invited to the World Series, and I always think to myself, “Hmm..  That’s my time in Purgatory if I ever went.”  The same way with any other big event.  I’d rather read about it or watch it on television than be in the roaring crowd.

Yours truly,
Lamb the Hermit