Historical Night in Chicago

November 2, 2008 - The Night Obama Got Elected - Chicago's Grant Park




Hey People - This is the first official post to this blog. The idea came about last week on a project when I was talking with a fellow consultant about the crazy stories we experience on the road. Damn we are fools sometimes! Anyway I hope to read some very interesting stories. Only rules, No real names, no real company names (Companies you worked for at the time, not cities, hotels, restaurants unless they were your customers).

Historical Night - As a consultant you often find yourself on the road during historical events. Some planned, some not planned. Some you stumble on by accident. I was in Chicago the night Mr. Obama became President-Elec Obama. It was a magical night. "A crowd of nearly a quarter-million jammed Grant Park and the surrounding area in Chicago, where Obama addressed the nation for the first time as its president-elect at midnight ET. Hundreds of thousands more — Mayor Richard Daley said he would not be surprised if a million Chicagoans jammed the streets — watched on a large television screen outside the park" -source MSNBC. I really didn't think I would have time to attend the rally. And I really didn't connect the dots when I was planning my trip. As the day progressed, excitement about the election and the possibility that this would be a historical event started to gain momentum all around Chicago. Everyone was talking about it at work, online, on TV, radio and at the water cooler. So I decided to walk on over to Grant Park. Quick side note, as I was walking I poked my head into this restaurant called Triad Sushi (the best sushi in Chicago by far - great atmosphere, cool owner & staff) and asked some dumb question like how late they were open. This was the first time I ever went into Triad, the site and location of many other road stories, but I digress. I was starving, not having time for a real lunch that day and forgetting about dinner in my excitement to reach the park. Excitement beat hunger that night, wish I could say the same for my other 100 nights on the road in the last year. Anyway as I got closer to the park, more and more people lined the streets. It got down right crowded as I saw the first glimpse of the lights, cameras and big screen TVs. I don't usually like crowds, I tend to get a little claustrophobic. For whatever reason this night was different. This is probably the biggest crowd I've been in. My biggest impression that night was how everyone there got along. I didn't see one incident of bad behavior. It was truly magical. Regardless of what side you are on, right or left, I bet if you were there you'd feel like most of us in the crowd, an extreme sense of pride in our country. Obama says it in his acceptance speech. “If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”-source Obama quoted on MSNBC.

Anyway, this is kind of yesterday's news, but whatevs, still fresh in my mind as a story I will remember from the road forever.


Mars68