Thursday, October 23, 2008

At the Polls

Well, I finally fell off the fence and decided to go vote today. This was not an easy decision, but it was made easier by my friend Robbie telling me that McCain was going to carry Tennessee anyway, so I didn’t need to feel too guilty whatever my decision might be.

Tennesse has early voting, and it was a rainy afternoon. Walker and I thought it would be fine, in spite of hearing the noon news predicting record early turnout. They were right and we were wrong, but seeing the long line of people so anxious to cast their ballots that they just couldn't take a chance on waiting till the last minute was enough to warm my heart.

Overheard while there:

“Lady, with that crutch you can go right to the front of the line.”

“That’s okay, I have my husband in line for me, I’ll just sit here until he gets close.”

"I'll sell you my spot in line for $20."

"Wait, you said $10 a few minutes ago."


"Yeah, and when I get to the front it'll be $100."

“Kin I go to the front of the line…Ah’m in a wheelchair?”

“Sure you can, it’s your right!”

“I don’t think it’s a right. When I have worked the polls, we always let them wait in a chair, but we didn’t let them go to the front of the line.”

“Of course they can go to the front of the line…It’s says so in The Constitution!”

(An interested bystander to one of the election officials) “Excuse me, but are handicapped people allowed to go the front of the line?”

“It’s up to them. If they ask, we let them break the line, but it's up to them. Some ask, some don't.”

“How long from this point?”

“An hour and ten minutes.”

And it was worth every minute of it!

I’ll probably still be fixated on hearing what the pundits on TV predict for a while, and I’ll smile big time when they turn out to be wrong. The State of Tennessee will probably go for McCain and there may be an attack on our way of living in the months following the election, but I’ve done what I could to insure that voter apathy won’t be the deciding factor.

I hope all of you do too.

Blessings,
Janie

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