Vote for President 2008! Week of Nov. 3-7

Vote for President 2008! Week of Nov. 3-7

Like the concerned American citizen that I am, and although I was up until 2 A.M. doing Japanese homework, I set my alarm for 7:30 in the morning so that I could be on that first SLU van off to Canton’s Municipal building and a Mickey D’s coffee. Now of course I didn’t roll out of bed until 8:21 and missed that van, but I left at 8:34 and proudly walked my way down to cast my vote. One my way there, a flash of magenta catches my eye, and I look up to see none other than our own dear ol’ Theo coming from voting herself. What better proof of my voting could I have asked for, I mean, seriously. I could have looped around and went back to sleep without ever having voted at that point. But I would never! I care too much for my country to do that, and my vote is important in choosing the lesser of two evils… Onward I trudge, around the corner, past the McDonalds, into the building with the sign “Vote Here” or something, “Canton District 3+1,” down the hall, left around the bend, skipped downstairs and tripped up four, and alas I arrived at the polling station! No line, just some middle-aged guy talking about how he’s the 7th owner of something with the poll worker who was the 3rd owner.
Anyway, I step up to the—thingy—and I must have looked lost because one of the ladies came up to me and asked if it was my first time. What happened next, I shall forever be ashamed of and will blame on my lack of sleep: She says, first, you switch the lever, and I go, now? And she kinda looked like a fish lost for the word “stupid,” which I'm sure she wanted to say after my dumb question, and finished explaining. I pulled the lever to the right, and then struggled with the damn button thing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more like an ignorant ass than at this polling station. I pressed, poked, and pulled at the thing before I figured out the scoop-shaped little button was the perfect shape for your finger so that you can pull it down (duh). I decided not to vote blindly for any of the other offices there, switched the lever to the left, walked to the Pub, ordered a hot cider and shamed my friend working there for saying she wouldn’t have time to vote. Personally, I’m glad I just came to be of voting age during this historic period, and I'm proud to be Canton district 3 + 1’s voter number 76 (and FaceBook voter 881,156 or so, they were jumping up by the hundreds, and I was on at 9 or 10) and proud of myself for taking advantage of a very special right granted to be by many a woman’s suffrage.