Hope

I woke up very early on Monday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep immediately because my first thought was of my little Guinea Pig. I suddenly missed how he used to request for a bit of attention by parking himself near the side door of his cage. It dawned on me again that I won’t ever be getting any of that from him anymore. It is six months on and it is still hurting. People must think that I am crazy but try get yourself a pet and you will learn the bond that can develop between an animal and its human friend.

To avoid waking M up from his much needed hibernation, I dragged myself out of bed to wait in the living room until I was ready to return to the land of Nod. So I sat and stared at my Guinea Pig’s photo for a good few minutes before realising that the last Formula 1 race for the year must have just finished. Eager to find out before M, I turned on the telly to see how Louis Hamilton went. He won but I didn’t jump around like an idiot to celebrate his win. I just sat there feeling very happy for him. I also felt happy that an interracial person had won the championship. He has been on the list of potential role models for any children I might have since his debut on the tracks. When I heard that the Queen of England congratulated him, I instantly thought how amazing it must be for him to get her seal of approval. More and more will see him as a Brit now. He apparently had wanted to win this since he was 6 and his dream had really come true!

M and I had the telly on the moment we got up on Wednesday. Depending on the channel we were watching, the election results were different. I just simply wanted M to tell me the good news but even though we wanted the same outcome, he was not stupid enough to promise me anything as he knew very well what would happened if the results changed. The suspense was too much. So we left to go to the library first. I think it was when we were heading to ALDI that it became official that Barack Obama had won the election. He too is on my list of potential role models. On our way back, I suggested that we check the big screen at Fed Square to see if it was broadcasting the results. When we saw the few people that gathered there, we thought the screen was probably broadcasting something else but we were wrong. SBS news was on and we arrived just in time to witness McCain’s speech. I was over the moon to learn for sure that Barack Obama had won. Despite my trademarked straight face, I was bursting with excitement and kept asking myself, “Is this for real? Could this possibly be happening in my lifetime?” I have always thought that it is unfair that only Americans can vote for a new president. This is because whoever they vote in impacts on the rest of the world as well. It turned out that American voters must have come to their own senses this time. America is suddenly beautiful again in my mind.

My view of the world can be rather gloomy and this has a lot to do with my life experiences. The two wins this week have given me a bit more hope. In fact, I think they both have indirectly given hope to minorities and interracial people around the world. The next time I come across one of those “Future Prime Minister” bibs when I go shopping for gifts, I don’t think I will cancel it out immediately. Obama’s win changes everything. I now feel that I too am entitled to parent a potential future Prime Minister but seriously though, I will never wish it upon any children we might have.