In a mere 48 hours, we will be on the path of finding out who our next president will be (unless, of course, Florida holds it up again!) It is exciting, isn’t it? Either way, American History will be made. I cannot wait to stay up late on Tuesday night, watching CNN to get updates!
Since Mr. T and the boys had Teacher Convention last week Thursday and Friday and the schools were closed, Mr. T thought it might be a good idea to use his time wisely and go vote early. At first, I scoffed at him. In a way, I thought that voting early may take away a bit of the excitement. Boy, was I WRONG! I could not believe the crowds that commenced by 10 AM Friday morning at the Municipal Building. On a normal day, there may be about 20 cars in the parking lot. On this particular morning, not only was the lot over flowing, but cars were parked on the grass across the street in a vacant lot. Take a look:
We stood in line for about an hour and a half! And it was not even election day! The line snaked down two veeerrrryyyyyy llloooonnnngggg hallways and through a few doorways! Although the wait was long, it was not boring, I can say that! Here is the line ahead of us:
We stood in line with some pretty colorful characters and once we got to talking about the two campaigns, there was no stopping us! We chatted with a retired lady that actually is working at the Obama headquarters. She shared her views and also tried to get us to come and make some calls! We declined, but enjoyed talking to her none the less. She started talking about her parents, and an old folk song by the Kingston Trio called “Charlie on the MTA” that was popular when she was a kid. She explained to us that the song was written when George O’ Brien was running for mayor of Boston and his opponent wanted to raise the fare to ride the trains. It became a sort of campaign song! Well, once she started humming a few bars, my hubby knew exactly what song she was talking about, and they started singing it out loud together, right in the halls of the Municipal building! She got such a kick out of Mr. T. and that, at his age, he would know the tune! He explained that his parents had the album when he was a kid, and he listened to it all of the time!
We had a great time, learned about the origin of the Kingston Trio song, and cast our vote. It felt good to participate in something so important! Here is Mr. T and our “witness” that had to sign our ballots just before placing them in the box!
When we left, the line was even longer than it had been and hour and a half earlier! I wonder what it will be like on Tuesday? I wonder if there will be lines that last over 4 hours, which is what they are predicting? You would think that a country such as ours, we could come up with a more effecient way of voting! But then again, it might take away some of the anticipation of the whole event. I am looking forward to watching the returns, and also looking forward to a brighter future. Whomever gets elected, may they have the strength to enter the presidency and start untangeling the mess! God Bless America!
1 Comment
November 5, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Holy moly! I can’t believe those lines and those cars…before election day no less! And, I laughed out loud and the singing…oh my goodness. Too funny!!! I bet those two entertained quite a few folks in line!
Cooper and I went at 10 a.m. yesterday and thankfully walked right in and out. Though, he insisted on wearing his Bob the Builder hat and tool belt, and going up to all of the volunteers and saying “hi, I’m Bob!” I bet they’ve never seen Bob the Builder voting before!