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Election night: A Boomer’s report from Kona Grill & downtown

By Michael Barnes | Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 10:49 AM

Former Betty Dunkerley aide and anecdotalist Suzie Harriman, who spends half the year with classical music writer, raconteur and husband Randy Harriman in Mexico, sent in this election-night story about being a Boomer among the youth on Obama night:

“Our original plan was to go to our favorite sushi place, Sushi Sake, but we couldn’t remember if it has a television, so we opted for the Kona Grill nearby in the Domain. Sure enough, the patio and bar was filled with the Youth of America, not high on LSD, but high on The Obama Factor. What a great choice of venue. They have a 9-11 p.m. happy hour and we indulged in some of their specials, but mostly on the sushi we missed while we were in Mexico. And we were so glad to be sitting with all these young people and not with old farts like us back in San Miguel.

“Those young people were all so well behaved, whooping at Obama’s win, of course, but oh so polite and quiet during McCain’s concession speech, even applauding for him afterwards. OK, so I was a bit of an (expletive) when he thanked Palin for all her work, commentinng loudly that she was one of the reasons he lost. I got a “look” from Randy and decided to keep quiet from then on. … I wouldn’t leave Kona until we had seen Obama make his acceptance speech. I really didn’t want to hear it in the car.

“So we left around 11:15 and on the “way” home headed for the East Side, out MLK, over to 11th Sttreet, past the Victory Grill and on to Congress Avenue downtown. All was quiet on the East Side, surprisingly, but downtown was hopping, with clumps of revelers here and there and cars honking. A LOT. Couldn’t figure out exactly what that was about, besides the obvious “win” tonight. We didn’t honk, but felt like we were participating, since we’re still sporting our OBAMANOS bumper sticker.

“That one will stay on the car, while our other, older bumper sticker will be unceremoniously removed tomorrow (“We’re making enemies faster than we can kill them”), marking a new era.”