The Results Are In!

On Saturday I went to the Marion Square farmer's market. One of my favorite things the Charleston community offers, the market takes place every Saturday and highlights some of the regions best produce, art, photography, jewelry, and furniture.

When people go to the farmer's market they are in "weekend mood". No one wants to talk politics or business. People want to keep it "light and bright".

I was curious, however, to hear what people thought about the election results, and the farmer's market offers the perfect forum to ask such a question. The farmer's market brings together the conservative and liberal, the young and the old, and the rich and the poor.

Additionally, while I started out limiting myself to interviewing students on campus, I found that my answers were all the same. Thus, I realigned myself, and starting branching out to other outlets. What I found was that most people are tired of talking about the election results---they want to move forward. Social media has also ringed out all the opinions, and "its gets overwhelming", as Michael Khors employee Janie Sizemore says (right).

While some felt that the aftermath of the election being expressed on social media was overwhelming, others said that social media played and impact in getting them to vote.

"So many people posted 'go vote' messages on their facebook walls that it reminded me of the importance to vote", says Jeremy Jones, a medical student at MUSC (left).

People proved and reinforced that social media is important. There were some people that I talked with that were very blunt in saying that they were frustrated by the results.

This was surprising to me, as the spirit of the farmer's market was so "peaches and cream, we live in the south, and the weather is so amazing"...if that makes sense.

Jono Lucas, a foreign exchange student from Australia was very upset by the results only because "Romney's health plan was so incredible, and as a student of medicine it is hard for me to see where medicine is going in the United States"(right).

The foreign view of American politics is always fascinating, especially as there is such a strong international interest. Are we as interested in foreign politics and as the rest of the world?

"The world is always interested in American politics because your economy affects ours so much", says Lucas.

Meanwhile, there were still some that did not pay a whole lot of attention to the political results---not because they were not interested, but because they were too overwhelmed with their own lives.

Holly Olsen, a freshman at the College asserts that as a freshman she has been so focused on adjusting to life away from home that she "was immune to the political decision" (left).

While it was difficult to approach so many individuals with such a sensitive topic, everyone I spoke with went along with their morning. That is the thing about Charleston, we can be asked about controversial and political topics, yet we are able to go on when our day and have fun!