I Made My Bed Today Because of Mr. Trump

I don't know what a swing state means. Without ever having looked up their definitions, I only intuit what blue and red states are. But from Small Town, far away from American presence but certainly within some degree of American influential reach, the colors of blue and red have dominated my phone screen for several weeks. 

The color blue mostly represents depth, loyalty, and stability. The color red mostly represents passion, love, strength and courage. The two representatives of each color displayed intensely and virtuously their color's meanings. Madam Vice President Harris's smile and laugh were warm and perfect during the campaign. She was graceful, calm, deep with her answers, respectful, and dignified. Former President Trump was passionate for sure and, dare I say, even lacked empathy for many demographics of people in his speeches.

I would watch them talk and smile and shake hands and explain their policies and plans, and they slowly built their cases as to why they should make presidents. I scroll, listen to people's opinions, watch segments of American and world news, put my phone down, and go about my business with the store.

My store in recent weeks has done fine. The Ber months—these short months filled with celebrations—make people want to buy. It's enough for us to actually make ends meet. The boys are doing great, no longer gallivanting nightly and chasing girls. They're taking sleep more seriously and helping more at the house. 

Last night, I sent a screenshot to my former classmate: Harris 224, Trump 267 (270 to win). She replied that Trump was won. That her cousin was living in the U.S. The people were already celebrating. But Mr. Obama's tweets told us to remain calm. To wait until the last votes were counted and to trust the voting process. 

This morning, I watched three different TikTok videos with very rich points of view: first, a Michigan voter explaining that Ms. Harris could have secured the American Muslim and Arab Muslim vote had she been very clear about aiding with putting a stop to the grave situation in Palestine; second, Mr. Coates talking about Mr. Obama's "chiding" towards the brothers who didn't support Ms. Harris; and third, Ms. Bethenny Frankel, saying that celebrity influence is dead. The combined followers of Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Swift, Gaga, and Lopez of billions were all for naught. 

While people today are busy pointing out which demographic or race is to blame and reevaluating how this could have happened, I didn't really mind the result. I was not surprised a lot by what happened because this is what exactly happened in the Philippines.

There was a woman vice-president. She ran for the presidency. Her name had fame but nothing like the gargantuan name and history of her opponent. She was backed by many celebrities. She became a moment for a hot minute. And we were "all" thinking she would win. And when the race was nearing the end, we were "all" so sure she was going to be in office. And when the results were in and doubt started to grow, we were "all" asked to stay calm and see to it through to the end. And when he won, it was the heaviest, driest pill to swallow. And we "all" said, "So... we let him retake that office again, huh?"

But... but at 5:00 AM in the morning, an hour before we usually open the store, I got up, making the bed for the first time is a long while. I journaled the plans, I clothed myself, and I went down to the still-sleeping boys. I woke them up and told them the store would open earlier today. And I noticed that the two stores near ours also opened earlier than usual. We all always opened at 6; now we were open at 5:30 a.m. I was more focused right now than last week, surely.

I have come to accept that the days forward will always be darker regardless of who sat at the most powerful seat in the world. Storms harsher, wars greater… I suppose it's just a matter of how fast they will come based on the beliefs of the person who sat on it. Our opening the store early might be symbolic; it might not be done every day, it might be the beginning of new discipline. But still, I have this feeling that I might close myself to the current realities and focus solely on the various aspects within my proximity. Mostly I feel nothing now, with just a drop of determination to better myself. 

Lastly, upon checking the draft of this, editing it, and spotting some mistakes, I stumbled upon the other meaning of my chosen title. The making the bed, I mean here, was me actually smoothing my sheets and folding the blankets. The other meaning (You made your bed, now lie in it") may also mean "accept the consequences of your actions." I guess this is where we're at.

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