Vote today. Seriously.
Living in Luzerne County, I am especially sensitive to a plethora of election-related issues, including but not limited to my secret fear that anyone that manages to get their name within three feet of a ballot is already hopelessly corrupt, a fear which is borne out by watching the news or simply standing around inside the courthouse for five minutes.
I am hopelessly jaded, but not without a clinging wisp of optimism, the straggling tidbit of hope still lurking in Pandora’s box.
That is to say, I did go out to vote, all the while pondering which school board nominees I knew reasonably well (just in case I have a change of heart about teaching in high school, having an ‘in’ might mean I have to pay less to get consideration).
But this post isn’t about my perpetual disaffection with local politics – in fact, I have become a much cheerier person now that I am paying less attention to the subject. No, this post is about what happened at the poll. After I voted, pressing the giant, flashing VOTE button on the machine, I took a step toward the exit…and tripped over the power cord of the voting machine, sent sprawling. I suspect that this was funny to non-me people. Now, it’s possible – even plausible – that I’m just klutzy and uncoordinated in the morning. I’ll cop to that. It was 7:45 AM when I voted, following an early morning consultation with my mechanic about finally getting the (minor) damage to poor, sweet Nancy repaired following my post-birthday accident (Nancy is my car, not a person or animal).
HOWEVER, it’s also plausible that the voting machine attacked me.
Just be careful out there today.
PS – If you are one of those guys camping outside a polling station and your day today is full of shoving pamphlets in the face of people like me and saying, and I quote, “Vote for these three names today,” take notice of this: you have made me less likely to vote for your candidates. Candidates, you have literally years to get on my nerves once you win; don’t start early.
