Reverse Culture Shock

I took my three year old daughter with me when I voted yesterday in Atlanta’s run-off election. For my daughter, it did not prove to be the cheerful introduction to democracy I had hoped it would be.

She cried, rubbed her eyes, and wailed, “I’m tired!” It was 2 PM.

Or I should say, it was 7 PM UK time. We had arrived back in Atlanta after a nine hour flight, and a two hour ordeal at the airport, at about 9 PM. That, of course, felt like 2 AM, after a week in the UK, which is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

But I realize that children are a bit more resilient than adults are in time zone changes. While I resisted the urge to rub my eyes and cry as I lifted the stroller up the stairs of the school that was serving as our polling station, I was tired enough to throw a massive temper tantrum.

And after just a day of crankiness, both kids seem to have bounced back entirely. It will take me about a week.

The mayoral election results also seem murky. Mary Norwood has not yet conceeded, even as Kasim Reed makes plans for his upcoming term. Maybe they will resolve it by the time my jet lag dissipates.