Sobering Up: The Morning After Chronicles

This has been one emotional election.

I think there’s no better way to start this entry than with this simple, admittedly “safe” (or impartial) statement, because it is what it is: Poignant, unfiltered, unadulterated, and true.

Election season in this country, after all, has always been tinged with a lot of passion.

Watching the tally with tea and polvoron for a bit of a patriotic twist

That being said, as I crashed on the couch after braving the scorching heat and crowds to wait two hours to exercise my freedom to vote, I thought… Why am I so adamant about my right of suffrage?

Then I looked at my blog and realized: it’s THIS.

Think about it: I am free to be an opinionated (not necessarily always correct) female wino in a country that is beginning to enjoy the freedom to travel and learn about wines. I am not treated less with the work that I do versus a man, because our country has one of the best gender equality records in the workforce. The constitution allows me to pursue a career in alcohol, as long as I stay within legal bounds.

I slept during the night of the elections admittedly with a huge apprehension about its outcome… One of my friends put it well: “I am very thankful that I am still able to exercise suffrage… I can only hope that my children and their children will not have that right taken from them.”

That’s it, really… Once the dust has settled, I hope to keep the rights I’m enjoying right now as a Filipina wine professional.

Additionally, I understand that no change in leadership will change the fact that true progress requires unity, cooperation, and selflessness… Selflessness includes queuing properly, not drinking to excess (which will potentially harm the drinker and the people around him), ceasing the practice of giving importers a hard time if there’s no grease money… It will absolutely need to begin with each one of us.

So as we sober up after all the heated arguments, bickering, passionate (and occasionally crass) political discussions, I hope we move on and up together as one united nation.

I promise to be back with a less sober topic in the next entry. 😉 Cheers!

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