Stop Asking Me To Go To Your Election Watch Party

I’m not a sadist.

I can’t believe I have to say this but: For the love of God, do not invite me to your “fun” or “community-building” election watch parties. I don’t care about commerisating or celebrating together, when being together is so fraught right now. Nor do I think watching the future of our country unfold on live television is particularly entertaining.

Perhaps I feel so strongly about this because I learned my lesson the hard way in 2016 as a first-time voter. I chose to study “away” (lol) at NYU’s Washington D.C. campus my freshman year so that I could not only cover the election, but experience the joy that so many other voters have felt firsthand. I heard stories about the midnight parties, the dancing in the streets, the electric communion of hope and thought that I would one day get to enjoy or report out those moments.

But instead my initiation into the world of election watch parties was a slow descent into an unspeakable mourning. The day started with philosophy class, where we all glanced at The New York Times’ infamous Election Needle on our phones while waiting for the security guard to unlock the classroom door. (Why we didn’t have Election Day off will remain a mystery to me.) After our no-computer class, I set off to pick up catering for the election party the student…