Take that option off the table. It’s counter productive. Life is still going on regardless of who wins.
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This post might as well be titled “staying sober in election season,” at least that’s how I’ve had to look at it. @Mephistopheles @anon79808082 elections typically are not certified by all the states until the end of November, and we have seen that drag out long beyond that before due to recounts, most notably (at least in my experience) in 2000 with Gore and Bush, Jr, where it was close enough to really not know what the outcome would be without the courts making a determination. Without one side conceding the election, it won’t be over till it’s over, and who knows how long that will take.
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Me too. Exactly 
!
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It will take a good deal of time…days and perhaps weeks. What you will see tonight and will be media projections. In previous years, there’d be a rush for networks to be first to call various states for a candidate, sometimes with as little as 10% of precincts reporting. This year will be different, due to all the mail-in and absentee votes, and networks being reluctant to call it early.
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I’ll be praying a lot.
White Knuckling it.
Long ass walk with my angry gangsta rap on.
Get a lousy drive thru lunch or maybe lunch at home.
Yard work. Hopefully I won’t over do it.
Comfort food for dinner. Pork Chops with rice and home style gravy.
Glued to TV later tonight and pray my fucking ass off.
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I am staying sober working as an outside poll greeter at a few precincts (handing out candidate cards that include the down ballots…school board, mayor, etc as well as the presidential candidates). Just taking a lunch break now. Got to the polls at 6am, as my husband is a poll worker inside all day. Will head back shortly for the long haul til 7pm when the polls close and we clean up signs etc. So far a good turnout here, not too busy or slow and respectful. Am working alongside my Mom for some of it, which is really cool. All the other folks know her as she is an energetic 84 year old who worked every day of early voting for the last two weeks. So…a busy day and I will definitely be sober thru it. I find working the polls to be very energizing…it is nice to see so many first time young voters and everyone turning out. Florida has a good system in place, as we started counting when early voting started 2 weeks ago.
Stay sane folks, this can sometimes take time and we have a lot of work ahead of us no matter the outcome.
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- Ignore the news and live my life like normal until the count is in.
Because, things I can control: My vote. Things I can’t: The rest of the nation’s votes on the big day.
So I make a point of turning off the news for the days right around ballot counting. I don’t need to hear a lot of speculation about who’s winning, or what it might mean, or blah blah blah.
Just lemme know how it turns out when it’s done and we can all move forward with the next thing. 
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may our HP help us all today. i was talking to a friend this AM and she said, ‘why stress? i’ve learned that never helps me.’ so i’m going to keep the peace within myself. i’m going to my friends house where we’ll have pizza and a pack of seltzer waters. while i’m working today i’m going to listen to the women that inspire me: michelle obama, brene brown, oprah. i’m going to pray my city doesn’t burn.
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This is a great idea for a thread.
It’s a beautiful fall day. I have been for two walks already and I’m planning on more. Spending time with dog, cats and kids, and partner. I’m doing some work. Trying to focus on it, even though I feel distracted. Trying not to spend too much time reading the news, because it’s not as if anything will actually be revealed for a long time. My 9 year old and I did some yoga together this morning, and watched an episode of Queer Eye together, and discussed making our own pasta. It’s nice to spend time with my family. There are many positive things we can do to take care of ourselves and people around us.
To me, it feels like a civic responsibility to put in time and effort trying to learn about the society I live in – including local and global communities, as well as national politics. But there’s a difference between learning enough to be well informed, and futile fretting. Today is not a day to fret, and actually tomorrow won’t be a good day for that either. I’m trying to hold on to the lesson we’re all learning on Talking Sober, of taking it one day at a time.
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Thank you
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I cast my vote and now i have 1 midnight shift left until my long weekend. It’s gonna be around 60 degrees for the whole thing which is amazing for us in Upper Michigan this time of year! I have to keep in mind that this is out of my control and pray that our country doesn’t become extremely violent over the next coming days, weeks, months. Stay safe and sober my friends.
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Not being American, but being an avid reader/viewer of American politics - and also not being the type of person to get into political discussions because of the shouty, rabid nature of social media - I’m going to be glued to the news streams with coffee, pop and sweets (probably N’espresso pods, Irn Bru Extra and Tangfastics). It’s very nippy in Norfolk though, so I may need my slippers.
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my maternal family lives in cheboygan/levering!
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Something I’m thinking about a lot today is how voting is such a small thing, but also such a huge thing; and how that’s like sobriety. It’s a small thing, to show up for a few minutes or a few hours, stand in line, cast a ballot. One person’s vote, in a huge country like the US, especially given all the numerous checks on democracy in this country, isn’t going to change the whole race by itself. Whoever you vote for, even if they get elected, is only one (powerful) person in a big system that again has all kinds of checks on any individual’s power. Everything is limited. But collectively, voting makes all the difference. Suffrage of disenfranchised groups makes a huge difference. We’d live in a totally different country if Black men hadn’t got the vote in 1870, or women in 1920, and I’m grateful to the people who worked so hard to achieve those freedoms. There are huge differences in freedom and civil rights when democratic institutions get curtailed or limited or destroyed; when press freedom is limited, or trust in institutions is lost, or systems of law are under partisan control. In the big picture, it does matter. It’s similar, in that I know if I had one beer today, it wouldn’t do enormous damage to me or my family. It’s nothing much, in itself. It’s one day. But if I choose not to drink at all today, and I do the same thing for ten thousand more days (if I"m lucky enough to live that long), then it makes an enormous difference in my own little corner of the world.
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As a presiding elections official, I’m heartened by the massive turnout and how patient everyone is. Sometimes I wish we could unplug the internet. Once I get home I’m taking a bath and making a big bowl of popcorn to go with my fizzy cold Shirley Temple. I’m at the end of a gripping mystery so I’ll snuggle up with that.
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We pretty much do the same thing every Election Day.
We go to work.
We vote sometime during the day
We make enchiladas for dinner 
Then after dinner my wife and I are pretty much glued to our phones. Watching and reading the results in races we are interested in.
I was sober for 2018 and am of course sober tonight. And win, lose, or draw, I will be sober when I hit the pillow tonight
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Heeej, look who I’ve found! 
Welcome back lady
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Great to hear your a poll worker and doing your part 
… Your a good soul
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I could not have said this better myself… I agree completely with everything that you just said 
I just got a chance to catch up on everyone’s posts in this thread and it sounds like everyone had a reasonably peaceful day yesterday 
Thanks to those of you who posted about working at polling places. Regardless of political preferences, I think that is a great service to our community and country.
I hope everyone has a great sober day today as we hear more about the results 