Thursday, August 9, 2012

Primary elections

 Tuesday was primary election day.  I made plans to hit the polling place early in the morning before work.  I arrived at 7:01 a.m. by my clock in the car and tried the door.  It was locked.

A neighbor pulled in behind me and told me that I still had one minute.  He got out of his truck and rattled the door handle and banged on the door.  Then, he walked away!

I yelled at him that they (the very nice retired ladies) would think it was me!  When the door opened, I sold him out and named him as the impatient one.

This year's primary had a few hotly contested races.  I have to admit that I was relieved to have this day pass because it would mean at least a short respite from the phone calls, direct mail pieces, and door-to-door campaigners.  We had about reached our limit of robo-calls and we were more than a little annoyed to have a door-to-door visit on July 4th.

I still get a kick out of voting.  It was a big deal when I finally turned 18 and had the chance to vote.

I remember going with my mom to a polling place when I was really little and I stood with her in the curtained booth while she voted.  That early trip left a big impression and I will always remember how important it seemed to be able to step into the booth and make your choices.

I came across this photo in Pinterest a few weeks ago.  When I take a moment and think about the right to vote, I am struck by how recently women actually earned this right in our country.  I am so humbled by the fact that I have this right and just a few generations ago, women were fighting to make this a reality.  I am so lucky.

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