Friday's Realization

As we hear of President-elect O'bama meeting with his advisors and coming closer to naming his staff, something struck me this morning - I live in the same city in which the next president lives.

I know, it seems crazy not to have noticed this already, but it just hit me. He is now required to travel with a presidential motorcade... which some are complaining about. (Not news that the traffic in Chicago is bad.) The kids have secret service detail on them and their friends have to be cleared. Their neighbors also must be cleared by security just to come home. Midway Airport doesn't have a runway long enough for Air Force One, so O'Hare will have to be used, even though it's much further away.

Again, I recognize that none of this is new to the rest of the world, but to me, it's different. The guy that sat next to Barack O'bama last week when they were getting their hair cut and chatted with him about the election bid, can no longer have that random, everyday conversation because Barack O'bama is no longer Barack O'bama, he's President-elect Barack O'bama.

I didn't vote for him, but I do respect the position of The President of the United States. I appreciate that we live in a great country in which the majority rules and we all must live by the outcome.

How great is it that a person's life can change so dramatically in this country? We often hear about the hard-luck stories, but it's nice to be reminded that it can go the other way too.