Election Day 2008
Dad and I watched the Democratic presidential nominee’s informercial on Wednesday night (10/29). We both chuckled hard (actually, we were in hysterics for at least a minute) when we saw the image of Democratic presidential nominee’s standing in an office that looked very much like the Oval Office with darkened walls and furniture. It’s amusing that he likes to believe that he’s the president. Well, after that, we were bombarded with stories of families who can’t afford a gallon of milk and old couples on Medicaid who have to work at Wal*Mart after retirement. It was depressing. The Democratic presidential nominee showed us that we are a country of losers. Really depressing. We can’t put gas in our cars. We can’t pay our mortgages. We can’t put food on the table. But the Democratic presidential nominee also gave us hope. He’s going to be like Robin Hood: Steal from the rich and give to the poor. The Democratic presidential nominee will do it in the form of taxes, so it won’t really be stealing. It’ll be a legal confiscation of funds, making him more like Prince John than Robin Hood. If you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a criminal. If you don’t vote for the Democratic presidential nominee, you’re a racist.
Today, we woke up at 5:30am. At least I did. I started waking up the boys, but they didn’t stir. Dad woke up. I started the coffee. I woke up the boys again. I changed the babies’ diapers but didn’t feed them because they both nursed about an hour earlier. Brushed Kyle’s dreadlocks out of his hair while nudging Taylor with my foot. Changed Taylor’s diaper and changed her clothes. Ty made toast, prepared my coffee, and shined Dad’s boots. I’m only kidding. haha! He did make toast, though. We were locked and loaded in the van at 6:41am.
We drove to our polling place and were surprised to see a fairly empty parking lot. We stood in line, maybe the 70th and 71st ones in line. I had a baby in the sling and a baby in the stroller (switched them around often, depending on which one was hungry). There was a dad with his two girls, a little older than Ty, who looked like he wasn’t used to waiting in long lines with them – not that we often wait in long lines with the children. He had a box of distractions. Literally. He had a box with paper, crayons, and coloring books. Ty and Kyle sat on the ground twice during our wait, drank water from our canteen, and read a Berenstain Bears book. Taylor was the one who was acting up – just a tad. Enough to get her doll taken from her. The dad with the two girls offered us paper, but we said that we didn’t need any. “We are practicing patience,” explained Dad. It helps to be around the children 24/7 instead of this only-on-weeknights-and-weekends kind of parenting that seems to be the trend.
Voting was a breeze. We were out of there by 8:15am. But Dad and I did notice that two of the poll workers were wearing some Black History shirts. Why is that so wrong? Because political displays are not allowed within 200 feet of the polling place. These Black History shirts (with portraits of MLK, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, to name a few) were proxies for the Democratic presidential nominee shirts that the Democratic presidential nominee has been selling at his rallies. We as tax payers should provide these poll workers with a uniform. A blue, green, or turquoise shirt, something easy to spot. What’s this monkey business with Black History? C’mon. Imagine if we walked in there wearing shirts with images of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Andrew Carnegie. We’d be asked to leave the premises. We would not be allowed to vote. There would definitely not be any allowance for a white poll worker to show up wearing a White History shirt. By the way, there should be a month designated for dead white people and not just Presidents. Oh, am I racist? Voting for the Democratic presidential nominee just because he’s black (or half-black) is racist. Voting for John McCain because he loves America is American.
We stopped by the grocery store to pick up doughnuts and chocolate milk for our Election Day breakfast, which isn’t technically “break fast” because we had toast earlier. So now we’re enjoying the rest of the morning, watching Dad save Princess Zelda, reminding Kyle to pronounce his fricatives, and mainly recuperating from waking up way too early. I have to work later.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I guess I can be called a racist also because I chose right. Like I say it comes down to idealogy not race.