Wake-up Call

Whether you woke up Wednesday with excitement, fear, anger or hope, it is safe to say that all Americans have had an emotional couple of days. Wednesday also marks the end of a long, long election season that made blue voters bluer and red voters redder. Now, it doesn’t matter if your blue, red, somewhere in between or really confused, because America has voted and we continue on as a nation.

            Articles and op-eds flooded the media over the course of the past year and a half, almost breaking the internet on Wednesday morning. Passion floored American citizens to express all the emotions everyone experienced over the election season. We cried, we laughed, we cringed, we smiled – and now we are tired. From 8pm Tuesday night to 8am Wednesday morning, we rode a roller coaster and I, personally, am not getting back in line anytime soon.

            What seems to be forgotten, however, is that all these feelings were not just felt by Americans. The world watched as we held their fate in our hands; it is hard to remember how powerful of a player America is on the global stage. When I was in Poland, co-workers and strangers, upon learning of my citizenship, immediately inquired about my thoughts on Trump. Regardless of whether they know of Clinton, Kaine, Pence, Sanders, Rubio, Cruz or any of the other actors in this year’s election showcase, everyone knew of Trump. Less than 40,000 people populate Oświęcim, a town surrounded by rural land, and I am confident that the majority were aware of this controversial American election.

            I was fortunate enough to make some incredible international friends during my global co-op, two of whom followed the election results with us on Tuesday night. As I communicated with family and friends as state votes came in, I was also messaging friends in Germany and Austria. I voted for those I felt would represent my interests and do the most for my country. I thought of the future of myself, my loved ones and my nation – these three entities were with me behind the poll curtain. In the moment, however, the entire world was also present in the booth. The voting decisions we made on Tuesday affected the local, national and international political arenas. Talk about holding the weight of the world on your shoulders…

            Wednesday morning in D.C. normalized me. The same people boarded my marc train, workers rushed to the metro or into buildings with coffee cups and official briefcases in hand. The world woke up on Wednesday and went to work – just like every other day.

            I arrived early to the Museum to assist in the de-installation of an exhibition: I loaded and moved carts of shoes to be cleaned by the conservation department. This is not my first time working with the shoes of those who were gassed. In Auschwitz, on one of my first days, I sat down in a lab coat, meticulously vacuuming and cleaning crates and crates of victims’ shoes. To say the task was emotionally taxing is an understatement. This next encounter with the shoes, proved emotional in a different facet. As I pushed these carts down the modernized hallways of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I confronted the reminder of what hate will do to a population. Every shoe represents a victim of the Holocaust and a victim of hate. Some, during the election season, drew parallels to the events and figures of World War II. I own opinions on this topic, but at the end of the day, this is not 1933. Similarities or not, the world is 71 years older than the Holocaust and, hopefully, 71 years wiser.

            Hate polarizes us, fractures systems, ends lives, eliminates societies. And hate caused the Holocaust. This election saw a lot of hate, from both sides. Voters held strong opinions about both candidates, and the “side” of one’s choosing potentially ended relationships. Hillary supporters refused to play in the sandbox with Trump voters, and vice versa. Sand was thrown, fights emerged, and hate erupted out of our mouths like lava. Hate divided us throughout this year, and if we further this polarization, hate will run this nation, and history taught us that hate isn’t a qualified leader.

            It no longer matters what you did in the booth on Tuesday. It no longer matters who you campaigned for throughout the primary and general elections. The next four years matter – and we mustn’t let hate determine its course. We owe future Americans and world citizens the opportunity to live peacefully with one another. Whether you like the new administration or not, we must work with one another to build our country up after such a long election.

            Hate cannot run a society. So grab your neighbor’s hand, and lets start the next four years.