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Picture Credit: The Guardian |
I followed the EU Referendum numbers till 3 am last night, right up to the point I spent more time accidentally dozing off than refreshing the CNN counter page.
When I went to bed, it was 51% to #Bremain. When I went to bed, I was still living in the EU.
When I woke up this morning, I woke up in another world. I was in Britain. Britain chose #Brexit.
I am still in shock and have this inexplicable storm in my heart that makes it really hard to be productive about anything today. The right words don't really come easily.
Right now, this is all I can muster:
As much as some are celebrating Brexit on the streets now, it's entirely ironic that they don't realize that when the time comes for divorce proceedings, it won't be Britain's politicians or any of the Brexiters who will rule the roost on any separation terms. It will be the other 27 nations of the EU who will call the shots and serve it up good, take-it-or-leave-it style. It's probably only then when some of these short-sighted Brexiters will realize it was always as much about opportunities for Brits in the rest of the EU as it was about keeping other people off British soil.
And judging by the number of non-British friends I have celebrating the 30-year low of the Pound Sterling by indulging in some massive shopping sprees, I think the economic implications speak for themselves. You'll rejoice if you aren't living in the UK. You won't be if you are. It's that simple.
Baby boomers who cast the die for a generation that never wanted this to happen, there is only this to say: Judging by those same economic implications and a violent truncation of opportunities for the next generation, they no longer can say to us: "You have it good."
But most of all, it is getting harder to call a country we now happen to be living in Home.