I finally stopped...

So I've been walking past a poster of Obama for about a month. I have to admit that I found it rather odd that this campaign poster would be displayed so randomly on the side of building on a side street in Bristol.  I mean I knew that the world was watching the election, but seeing Obama all over the news was somehow different than just having this poster show up on my walk to school.  I'd thought about stopping and speaking to the shop keepers of the computer supply store that the ad space so obviously belongs too for sometime, but just haven't gotten a chance... I've either been in a hurry or the shop is closed or too busy.  So today when I noticed that the store was still open and relatively empty I popped in my head to say hello and figure out the story behind the poster.  (A story behind the poster... I'm totally channeling my materiality course.  Everything is material culture just waiting to be studied.)  

Upon entering the store, I was really surprised to find the older man who I assumed was the owner and an US citizen had an accent.  He was Polish and wasn't the owner at all.  And when I bombarded him with my gratitude for having the poster displayed of our future president, showing my solidarity with the campaign pin on my book bag, he told me the owner was also really excited as he was a citizen of Florida.  So I thought I would just say thanks and leave, but then the guy asked me "what I liked about Obama?"  I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was... I mean I did walk into the store and start the conversation.  Anyway for like two seconds I had to pause and think about how to express why I was so excited about the advent of this new period in my country's history to actually walk into that store and inquire about a poster.  It was fun to have the unexpected opportunity for this cultural exchange.  I got a chance to hear a Polish point of view of our election and the results.  All because of that poster.  

Lesson learned:  don't let the opportunity to connect over material culture pass you by.

Just beginning to think and act like a material cultural archaeologist, Margaret