My Thoughts On The Election

Hello All,

As you know, I was working as an Election Officer on Tuesday. I was there from 6am until 9pm that evening with only an hour lunch an a 30 minute break. I was working the precint in my old neighborhood. We had 318 voters, 56 provisional voters and about 100 people walk in with absentee ballots. It was definitely high traffic.

I really loathed the training I went to last Friday, but I was pleasantly surprised with the people I worked with on Tuesday. They were really nice and a lot of fun. Plus, I lucked out and worked with smart people. Apparently people in other precincts were messing up provisional and absentee ballots.

There were no poll watchers, and no interest groups posted outside. Probably for good reason since we were set up in a room behind an elementary school. So, it was a very peaceful day. None of us talked about any politics while we were working. We couldn't listen to the news or watch the TV, nothing. It was also nice that none of the voters tried to get all political on us. A couple of people announcing that they came to vote for Obama, but nothing more than that.

The other volunteers I worked with were fun to talk to and we spent a great deal of time joking around. I even made a couple of voters laugh and could see them smirking while they were trying to concentrate on their ballots. A couple of the people were high school students and getting credit, and one lady had volunteered before. The lady that managed us was really nice and bought us coffee and pastries. She did not have to do that, but she did.

One of the other volunteers was kinda cute. The funny thing is that I thought that he was gay at first, but didn't realize that he was straight until he made a couple of comments about my skirt and boots.

So, while it was a very long day (We had to count all of the ballots after and break down the stations)it was still fun. I am glad that I got a chance to do this and participate in a process like this. However, I don't think that I would do it again. We had to work a 15 hour day. It was just too much. I was so worn out.

But I am glad that I did this for this election. It was a historical election for two reasons. We were either going to get a black president, or a female vice president. Being a part of the process made me feel proud to be an American. I remember how homesick I was when I lived in Barcelona for a year. I missed being back home. I used to think that I wanted to be European, since my mom's side lives in Austria. I didn't realize that while I love Europe, I love being an American and and don't listen to people who love to badmouth the US of A. When I was in Barcelona, I realized that I am proud of my country and that while I have close European roots, I am American as apple pie.

It was also nice to see people voting for the first time because they became new US citizens. Parents also brought their children and the kiddies got stickers. I wish my folks would've brought me to the polls when I was a kid.

I have to say that I am so glad that Palin didn't get a shot at being VP. Seriously, I think McCain took a wrong turn when he chose her as his running mate. I like her as a person, but I just could not imagine her running our country.

Now that Obama will be our president, I really hope that he will make good on his promises. I hope that he does a good job, and I hope that he gets us out of the mess that we've gotten ourselves into over the years. It is a huge burden he is taking on his shoulders, but I hope that he has the strength to lead us and make the right decisions.