Beers and Inauguration in Ann Arbor, MI

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ABC

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uploaded by Marisa Olivia

As far as political activism goes, Ann Arbor has a long history.  I would hear stories about the heyday of the 1960s Movements - sit-ins, SDS publications, John Sinclair & The MC5, anti-war protests and police brutality.  The Hash Bash, a (sometimes civil disobedient) protest aimed at the legalization of marijuana, has happened annually since 1972. 

Things may have chilled out since then, but as a university town and one of the cultural centers of the state of Michigan, it was a great place to be today, Inauguration Day.

Arbor Brewing Company has long focused on sustainable food systems and volunteerism.  Today, they had Happy Hour prices all day long and they began showing inauguration coverage at 10am.

On my 15 minute walk there, I saw a total of five people.  It doesn't take too much thinking to figure out where everyone was at.  The streets were silent.

I rocked up just before noon, and the bar was filled with people who had skipped during their lunch hours to watch the inauguration as part of a community.

ABC was fully decorated with streamers, flags, and logos from both parties.  We all tipped back pints of a homebrew IPA.

When Obama's speech started, everyone began cheering.  As he spoke, the woman next to me started to cry.  The camera switched to George W. Bush boarding the chopper and waving goodbye.  The crowd cheered and waved back, happy to bid him a final farewell and seize upon a moment they had been waiting for for the past eight years.

With Obama's every poignant remark, there was applause.  People couldn't match eyes without smiling at one another.  I can't remember a time in my (short) life when there was such a pervasive sense of happiness, from people of all poltical and spiritual ideologies.  Indeed, happiness hardly describes it - euphoria would probably be more accurate.

It wasn't exactly Washington.  When Obama's speech was over, most people headed back to work.  But it felt like most of the city had breathed a sigh of relief, with the hope (and maybe even belief) that rhetoric will now turn to action.

It was my turn to head to work, so I ordered a coffee.  And then bartender smiled and gave it to me for free.