I Voted!

 

Me at the early voting site in Milton yesterday morning. I need a new hat.

Since I was I so early yesterday because I couldn't sleep, I decided to vote early. 

We have a special election down here in southern coastal Delaware, Sussex County, District 20 to fill a seat that was vacated.  The woman who won the election last November never showed up for work. Not one day! I guess I should have expected that because that was one of the few politicians who didn't stop at my door and ask for my vote. 

In yesterday's post I showed the two ladies who showed up at my front door and asked me to vote for their candidate. I appreciate that. The regular voting date is August 5th. Early voting started yesterday. 

The polls opened at 7 AM. I left Casa Tipton-Kelly at about 6:30 AM. The voting location was at the Mariner Middle School in Milton. I have driven by that school many times on my way to Milton where I do most of my grocery and garden shopping. I avoid Route One and the Lewes/Rehoboth craziness as much as I can.

Driving  up to the school I saw a couple of lonely signs pointing to the building where the voting will take place. Of course I went into the wrong road and ended up where the school buses are parked. I have a tendency to do that (actually always) when trying to navigate my 2010 red Subaru Forester with almost 100,000 miles on it. Last week when I went to renew my drivers registration at the DMV, I drove in the wrong way too. And remember last week when I drove into the Lowes parking lot? Yep, wrong way again. Just call me Wrong Way Ron. That's the story of my life but I digress.

After exiting the school bus parking lot, I entered the right way and found plenty of parking spaces. Would I be the first voter today?

I saw the "VOTE HERE" signs outside a large building with the door open. 

I saunter up to the open door and walk in past a middle aged man posting a sign on the door. In the distance I see about ten older folk (why are there never young people as poll workers?) gathered around another older gentleman obviously giving them orientation. I say to the man at the door "Orientation". He says "Yes. We're not opened yet." 

I check my watch and sure enough the time was only 6:45 AM! I'm early! Oh the embarrassment!

I apologized to him and excused myself saying "I'll wait in my car." And then I proceeded to hobble out to my car. I wish I could walk like I used to but that will never happen again in whatever remaining years I have left on this earth. I now have that Old Man Walk. Stooped over and barely able to keep my balance. I always have my cane nearby but when out in public I try not to use it. Seems whenever I do I get a lot of pity looks and I become even more invisible. Gone are the days of my foolish youth whenever I ventured out in public I often got those admiring glances and that tall good-looking guy. Not these days folks! Those days are long gone. I remember when I was young and I would see some old man struggling to walk with a pained look on his face. I especially felt sorry for the tall older men who were now bent over in arthritic pain. I'm there now. It is what it is. Another learning experience for moi.

At about two minutes after seven I reentered the school building again and was met with a phalanx of old folks (men and women) seated at folded tables. 

"Who to choose?" I chose the first table which was a mistake. The guy couldn't find me in his system! The guy next to him, who was also a vet like me, was talking to me after I told him I love to vote. I told him that when I was in the Army in 1960 I wanted to vote but couldn't because I was only eighteen years old and back in those Bad Old Days, a United States citizen had to be twenty-years old to vote. Yes, old enough to die for my country but not old enough to vote. Remember those god awful days? Actually the first time I voted was in 1964 in the Lyndon Johnson/Barry Goldwater presidential race. I voted for Barry Goldwater. Yes, I the first time I voted, I voted for a loser. Not the first time in my lifetime either folks. I've been voting for losers ever since. But again, I digress. My fellow veteran, who told me he was in the Marines, said he worked with Army Rangers and he developed a whole new respect for Army vets. Well folks, I obviously wasn't an Army Ranger. My whole three years in the Army was two weeks Basic Training, six months of school for the Army Security Agency, and then the remainder of my three year stint working a desk job at the National Security Agency in Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland. The closest I came to combat was in 1962, during the Cuban Missle Crises when I had to work midnight shift in communications intercept. I never got out of the basement of the massive National Security Agency building at Ft. Meade. Of course I didn't tell my fellow vet these facts, I'll take the hero view he might of had for me. 

When my fellow vet saw that his co-worker still couldn't find me in the voting rolls, he took a look at his computer screen. Yep, there I was matching my driver's license which he was working from. 

That befuddle poll worker keyed in some information on his computer and then turned the screen around for me to sign my signature. Yep, I bend over my arthritic body to sign a computer screen with one of those soft tipped pens. I signed but it didn't look like my regular magnificent scrawl. My signature looked like that illegible scrawl that Trump signs all those executive orders that he spews out almost daily.

After I signed the screen he gave me a long piece of paper, which was my voting receipt (?). With voting receipt in hand I turned around to see many smiling faces and another gentleman motion to me with a sweeping motion of his hand "Choose any booth you would like." They all looked alike so I chose the one closest to me. 

I do my Old Man Hobble over to that curtained booth, quite aware that most if not all of the folks at those tables behind me are looking at me with that pitiful glance I so often these days. Whatever, whatever. I'm wobbly now, what can I say?

I pull the voting booth curtain aside and slip in. I look at the screen and only two names are displayed. Both women, on white (Republican of course) and one black (Democrat). I'm voting for the Democrat, as I almost always have for the past twenty-five years ever since George W. Bush and his administration tried to take away my veteran medical care benefits. I was in between jobs then and had no medical insurance. Yes, the Republicans are always lowering taxes for their rich friends and trying to take away (often successful) medical benefits from those less connected like me. Of course Bush and the Republicans weren't successful in that attempt, they got so much blowback that they changed the legislation to grandfather in old vets like me. But younger veterans, those not yet in the system would no longer have those benefits that were promised to us,"if we needed it", when we signed up. Got to give more money to the rich, don't you know it? And I'm sure you notice that the Republicans are still at it, lowering and taking away medical benefits for the Great Unwashed, those of us who don't have the connections. Again, I digress but that is the main reason I'm no longer a Republican as I was for many years of my life. 

I looked at the screen and then touched the Democrat's name and then pulled the switch to open the curtain and leave. I felt like I was missing something. A poll worker was standing outside my booth. He said "Did you review your selection?" He could clearly see I voted for the Democrat which caused me to wonder "He's probably one of those brainwashed Trump voters and now has a completely different opinion of me, voting for a Democrat and a black woman at that!" I don't care. Then he said "If your vote is what you want then press the "Accept" button which was at the bottom right of the machine. Wow! Screwed up again! Old man here. 

I pressed the button and I heard a "chunk, chunk" and the machine spit out my long while paper voting receipt. I handed it to the gentleman, wished him a "Have a great day!" He and a couple other people happily said to me "You're the first voter today!"

Wow! I think that's the first time that's ever happened for me. Well, that was a nice feeling. 

Then I entered out of that building into the sun, heat and humidity of the day. 

Mission accomplished!