I prepped all the taco toppings Monday night and marinated the chicken. The plan was to come home after work the next day to a fully prepared meal so that we could flip on the TV and get straight to watching the election results trickle in.
Tuesday night, after anxiously checking the news during my final hours of the workday, I finally got home. I checked the simmering seasoned chicken in the Crock Pot then flipped on the TV.
And something disconcerting happened. The TV did not turn on. On election Tuesday. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to you. But me? Well, I panicked. My friend K, who came over to eat dinner and watch the results with me, walked in. I told her the news. In a tizzy, I called my landlord. Of all days, today the roofers had come to redo the roof, he reminded me. And they’d knocked down my satellite dish in the process. Freaking marvelous.
There was a brief moment I worried this would ruin my night. My natural inclination was to let it. But then I decided my presidential candidate was going to win, and I would do all I could to enjoy it. We quickly shoveled in our tacos while calling nearby bars to see who was broadcasting the news. We grabbed our jackets, poured the remaining margaritas into to-go cups, and headed out.
We ran into my very fun neighbor guys on the walk, and they told us the election had been called; Obama won. I let out a little whoop. My night was made. It didn’t matter that I was now surrounded by Republicans. We walked to the bar together and watched the speeches and talked and joked and enjoyed fun inter-party banter.
There was no way I would’ve had as much fun just the two of us sitting in my apartment, though we can be a lot of fun. We embraced the misfortune of a toppled satellite dish. We broke party barriers and broke L.A. misconceptions about neighbors not being friendly. We said yes, and it was worth it.
It kinda felt like a trust game I played with the universe. The Universe caught me when I thought the night was plummeting down. And we still got to enjoy these delicious, completely homemade chicken tacos.
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