The Big Red X

OK, I'm picking up the sock thrown down by Flipsycab, in her challenge to all of us to blog about our voting experiences today.

I used to be an afternoon voter. This was back when we voted at the now-razed Town Hall. I'd leave work sometime mid-afternoon, walk to the Town Hall, and stand in the aisle down the left side of the old auditorium. That was the "West Graham" side, the side I voted on. The line was usually 20 or so people long but moved quickly, giving everyone a chance to say a quick "hi" to their neighbors in front of and behind them.

Then they moved the voting to the local middle school, which is on the outskirts of town. Driving, not walking, so I became a late afternoon voter. Always went after work.

Today, voting was my first activity of the day. I got up, got showered, put on sweat clothes - honestly not realizing I was wearing red, white, and blue till I noticed it in the mirror - and headed out the door. I figured I'd zip by to vote first thing before going to work out.

However, when I pulled into the parking lot I realized that "zip by" and "to vote" were going to be contradictions in terms.

The parking lot was full to the brim, and there were two long lines spilling out of the front doors to the school. I popped out of my car and headed in, knowing that it's now no longer "West Graham" and "East Graham" lines, but simply "A - J" and "K - Z." So I got into "A - J" and stood.

I found myself playing my favorite "voting line" game. Who's gonna vote how? It's the old "can you really judge a book by it's cover" game. "Yeah, he's Bush, right down the line," or "Hmmm, they're Kerry people, I know." But when the curtains close, no one knows.

After about 10 minutes, I'd finally worked my way inside the school. Instead of the normal (2 per line) 4 voting booths set up, there were a whopping six! Five were spread out in the normal area, and there was one lone booth off by itself behind the registrars for my line. I was scared to death they were going to direct me to that booth. I was sure there was something sinister about that booth, all there by itself - that they were deciding who was voting for who as well, and they'd direct the voters they didn't like to that lone booth where their votes would be eaten, would not be registered, and would be lost forever.

One thing I noticed today was that no fewer than five people had their kids with them. Kids anywhere from the ages of 10 - 14. They stood in line with their folks, then went right into the booths with them to watch them vote. I thought this was great, and I'd never seen it before, ever. And it brought back a lot of memories of when I used to ask my folks if I could go vote with them (it seemed like a fascinating "grown-up" thing to do), and was always told no, that kids weren't allowed to go vote. I couldn't even go stand in the line with them. It's a wonder I didn't grow up with MVA Syndrome as an adult. (That would be Major Voter Apathy Syndrome.)

Finally, it was my time to hit the registrar's table. And here was my official Sign of the Times. I had to show a photo ID to vote. I know that's just about par for the course for everyone else, but in my little berg where everybody knows everybody else, it was just never done. Anyway, the person on my table was always the mother of Julie F, who I graduated high school with, and she'd say hi, we'd ask about each others' families, and it was on to vote. Not this year. No Julie F's mother, and even though I knew the registrars I had to show my driver's license. I was assigned a number - I was 538, I've no idea why, it apparently had nothing to do with order because someone who'd already been through the line was 540 - and in a stunning move, I was given a ticket. A little blue ticket, which I had to present to someone else to gain entrance into a voting booth.

And happily, I didn't have to go into the lone booth. The vote eater.

However, when I was trying to pull the lever to close the curtain in my booth, I caught my sample ballot on my hand and it gave me an extreme paper cut.

I pushed my levers for Democrats. Kerry for Pres and Boucher for Congress. Yeah, I know, voting is secret, but if you haven't discovered by now I'm a Democrat, you have problems. There were two amendment propositions on the table, one I voted yes, uncertainly, and one I voted no. My general theory on amendments is "when in doubt, vote no," but that first amendment was calling to me for a "yes."

And then it was over. I pulled the lever back, my vote was registered, and I turned to leave. No "I Voted" stickers this year. I was disappointed.

I walked back out into the hot November (record high temperatures here) day, sucking the blood off my hand. I saw Mr L (Bush, definitely), Mrs D (I'm guessing Kerry), and Mrs T, who I didn't even peg for a citizen. Shows how much I know.

As I'm writing this, it's a projected 80 for Bush, 77 for Kerry. I really don't want to watch all night, the projections and disappointments, and brief optimism, and eventual blood pressure elevation. So I've turned the TV off for now. I'll switch it back on from time to time though. It might be easier to watch if there was a convening in #squeeze.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Did yall know that somewhere in the annals of Virginia history, somewhere in the huge log books of elections past, that I have three votes for Governor of Virginia? This was the year ('92 or '93) it was between Mary Sue Terry and George Allen for Governor. Now, you know, I really hated Terry. When I hate someone so much I can't vote for them and they're a Democrat, that's pretty bad. And I knew I couldn't vote for Allen. So I'd decided I was writing myself in. And by the end of my two-day campaign, I'd gotten two other people to follow me on to defeat. It was fun - I had to ask the booth helpers how to write someone in. The only problem with it is that there's a woman in R'noke with my name. Back in the 80s she was on their town council and ran for mayor. 100 years from now someone's gonna read about my three votes and probably think the votes were for her.
* Remember I told you I saw a man riding a unicycle in B'burg recently? Today by the Subway here in town I saw parked outside not one, not two, but three unicycles! Is this a trend I don't know about?
* Vacation, day two: voting, working out, running some bills around town, then sleeping the entire afternoon away in the Comfy Chair.