“I am ready for Brexit!” announced one of my European coworkers as he walked past my desk holding his continental passport up on high. He was joking of course, but at the same time I’d say that the recent political and economic climate in Great Britain merits a bit of a global pause.

For those Yanks who haven’t been watching John Oliver this week, “Brexit” is the General Mills sounding and kind of ridiculous moniker given to the referendum that will be held in the United Kingdom come Thursday. British exit. Do British people want to retain their EU membership or are they truly keen to moonwalk out just as this nightclub is getting crowded?

Back when I was at Trinity, I spent two years learning about the European Union under the outstanding tutelage of Professor Patrick Keatinge. Back then, the Euro was not a currency you could hold in your hand, and moreover the member countries numbered only 15 (this has since grown to 28). The United Kingdom originally joined under the umbrella of the EU’s predecessor, the European Economic Community, back in 1973.

What’s interesting is that Britain only gained successful entry after being twice vetoed by France for allegedly having an economy that was incompatible with Europe. Oh France and England. Sometimes when I watch these two interact it’s like I’m back at my Thanksgivings of childhood, an annual event that was termed “The Turkey Rumble” by some in my family. All of the bickering is better than fiction. But I digress.

Even when Great Britain was finally admitted into the Common Market, not all Brits loved being a part of this supranational collective. Over the years there have been varying decibel levels of politician and populace that have expressed a desire to withdraw from the European Union. Thus far, no such effort has managed to reverse the country’s course, but the 23 June vote could certainly change all of that. It’s times like these that I wish Professor Keatinge hadn’t retired from teaching in 1999 because I’ve got so many questions about what the identity of the European Union has become and what this withdrawal could signal. I mean, I haven’t even mentioned Turkey’s application for EU membership. Interesting times is the understatement of the year.

In recent weeks the tube stops and in house windows have seen a big outcrop of literature, buttons, and signs advising voters of whether to stay in or get out. To my unscientific and central London eye, it would appear that more folks are heading to the “remain” camp.  I’m no economist— nor am I qualified to make any sort of comment on the vote— but I do have friends voicing their concerns about what would happen should this place feel froggy and leave.

While on a recent trip to the EU country of Spain, some Northern Irish friends (now living in the Republic of Ireland) and I were talking about the referendum and they mused that back in Ireland, things could very well revert to the border and checkpoint landscape of days past. Up until our chat, I hadn’t even considered that this might be possible. All of the prosperity that has been nurtured by the EU and 1998 Good Friday Agreement is kind of being threatened at the moment. There are a lot of unknowns that could take form with a successful “Withdraw” vote.

The sterling pound has also been weakened by the Brexit fever pitch. This is great for my salary disbursed in greenbacks, but once again I have to wonder what an EU exit would mean for the greater population. There’s so much to consider, and so much that none of us really know. What’s scary is that you’ve got lots of Brits piping up and providing their EastEnders version of what’s going on at the moment. Boris says that Britannia is just a pretty lady who got caught up in an arranged marriage with a foreign gentlemen who didn’t speak much English.  Or take David Beckham’s approach and say that the EU member states are one big football team that only scores when working together.  Even Her Royal Eurosceptic might have voiced her opinion on the matter. Or maybe she’s simply worn the best dress ever. 

There’s a crazy website called The Death List and it provides a yearly Top 50 listing of…well, you can click here to find out. I didn’t see Britain’s EU membership included,  but one never knows what the future holds. Nothing is promised, and either way it will be an historic and important time in London as the count goes down on Thursday evening.

With all of the issues cutting across this assemblage of countries— regardless of whether each belongs to some 28 member club or not— Europe will have to carry on working together. The transnational challenges of  immigration, trade, terrorism and yes even unbalanced vitriol resulting in public servants getting murdered— all of these things will need to be met head on addressed as a collective.  For now, I’m just glad that Brexit is overshadowing the political moshpit that is currently taking place in my home country. Come this time next week, I’ll likely be pining for the days when a simple yes or no vote was the dominating topic of conversation. Heck, I might even be the one running around work with my passport and begging for entry into the elite 28. Let’s make the EU great again.