Voted
I did the voting thing on the way home from work today. Went off without a hitch, though for me, playing tappity-tap on a Diebold touch screen does not give me much confidence that my vote actually counted. There was a fair amount of people at the polls when I went in, I guess that is a good thing.
I've been "voting" since I can remember. It was Mom who, without fail, took me with her to the polls as a wee child and instilled in me the importance of being a part of the governmental process. Being that she came from the Soviet Union, she saw the U.S. election process her civic duty. To her, being able to shape the government in the country where she lived was an important gift. While not perfect all the time, and with results not always in her favor, she still had faith in the process and voted every major election. When I was a kid, she took me into the booth to watch her push the levers, most often letting me push the ones she selected. It was an exciting thing for me at that early age, because I knew from her telling me that it was one of the most important tasks that she'd perform. When I was finally old enough to vote, we would discuss the issues and candidates in the weeks before the election, then go together and perform our patriotic duties. Needless to say, in '00 we truly felt disenfranchised for the first time, with subsequent years being no better. Still we did what we knew was right. And being that we voted, we had every right to complain when things ran counter to our positions.
Tonight, in a light rain, I went to the polls and cast my ballot. I did so alone for the first time in my life. Upon completing my task, I was given a "I Voted" sticker from the elections official. I proudly stuck it on my shirt pocket, made my way past the folks waiting in line, and took notice of a woman at one of the machines with her kid beside her, getting involved early. I must have been beaming.
I walked back to the car in the increasing rain. Upon closing the car door, I broke down, bawling my eyes out.
I've been "voting" since I can remember. It was Mom who, without fail, took me with her to the polls as a wee child and instilled in me the importance of being a part of the governmental process. Being that she came from the Soviet Union, she saw the U.S. election process her civic duty. To her, being able to shape the government in the country where she lived was an important gift. While not perfect all the time, and with results not always in her favor, she still had faith in the process and voted every major election. When I was a kid, she took me into the booth to watch her push the levers, most often letting me push the ones she selected. It was an exciting thing for me at that early age, because I knew from her telling me that it was one of the most important tasks that she'd perform. When I was finally old enough to vote, we would discuss the issues and candidates in the weeks before the election, then go together and perform our patriotic duties. Needless to say, in '00 we truly felt disenfranchised for the first time, with subsequent years being no better. Still we did what we knew was right. And being that we voted, we had every right to complain when things ran counter to our positions.
Tonight, in a light rain, I went to the polls and cast my ballot. I did so alone for the first time in my life. Upon completing my task, I was given a "I Voted" sticker from the elections official. I proudly stuck it on my shirt pocket, made my way past the folks waiting in line, and took notice of a woman at one of the machines with her kid beside her, getting involved early. I must have been beaming.
I walked back to the car in the increasing rain. Upon closing the car door, I broke down, bawling my eyes out.