11/02/2004: "Democracy and rocking the vote, tech style"

music: David Bowie, Queen, Radiohead, Elton John, pulp, fiona apple etc...
mood: Queasy

Today I share a bit of my patriotism interspersed with insights of the world I live in. I take the time out of my VERY busy schedule to share because I think it's important. I hope you enjoy...

I woke up early this morning with the intent of voting before 8 and getting to work well before 9 so my presence woud not be missed or unaccounted for when I leave for a 5 hour+ rehearsal at quarter to 5. But I was shocked to find a LINE at the south san jose church of Saint Julie's (who is saint Julie you say...if you REALLY want to know.) wher I vote now. A line that did not seem to be moving. As I took my place amongst my fellow Americans I looked at my "competition". A postal worker, young professionals, several old ladies, a burnout, a few young punks, several children accompaning their parents to what was no doubt intended to be a short lesson in civics and in more than one case ended up being a lesson in impatience and national diservice as they left to get them to school. I say have them wait, watch you vote and have them be late to school. 2 Hours a year (or every 2-4 even) is more of an education than the first hour of school anyway in my opinion. Demographically, Asians and African African Americans were represented amongst a sea of white.

Of the 50 or so people there it was a people watcher field day. Not many people talked. Too early perhaps. Maybe not brave enough to speak what was obviously on their minds. A chit there and a chat there. A young boy taunted a small black beetle, intended to play with it not hurt it but in the end I found it ironic when his dad gave up and said he would come back later and the child cried becuase the beetle wasn't in a safe place. Ironic because it was in the bush that he found it in and had grabbed it from originally. His sister put it back there as they were summoned by father to get to school. I thought about Iraq a bit. Thought about innocence and life, and upheaval. Then my attention was drawn to a conversation about making money selling coffee and doughnuts to the people in line. Very capitalist. Very interesting indeed. A day of worry and reflection, of passion and pride, embarassment perhaps too. A day of a lot of head shaking. Tongue biting. And maybe some finger shaking. I heard comments, I made a few, even the squirrels in the palms reflected the antsy feeling. The ultimate popularity contest. Highschool on a national level. I objected to the complaints about the wait. What could be more important than deciding the direction of the country for the next 4 years, and potentially more if there is a supreme court appointment made. I watched as Chris drove by and wondered briefly if he missed voting and having a say or if it were an unwelcome burden when the choices sometime border on the lesser of two evils. When if it were up to him he'd just exile anyone he didn't like off his Island. A tyranical democracy of elitist intellectuals.

The voting itself was fine. I was number 79 at the short staffed booth due to three of the workers not showing due to an auto accident. Short staffed, but volunteers that were cheery and apologetic for the wait. It was my first time to vote electronically. It's a huge leap of faith ( funny to be in the church) to assume your vote gets counted, but somehow it seems more feasible that an electric vote gets counted than a paper one. It was very quick and very clear and I got my sticker and jetted to work, on the road by 9:40am, and hour and 35 minutes from start to finish. Just in time for the staff meeting at work. In half an hour the live coverage will begin as the polls get ready to close on the East Coast. I will spend the evening hours with some friends in Palo Alto at a Cuban Bar where we will either drink to celebrate, drink to drown our sorrow, or drink to wait more likely as the missing ballots start to get reported, and we have a dangerous deja vu from the turn of the century. If you haven't already...vote... and treat your fellow humans with a little extra care today...the times are a changing...we hope for the better...whatever that means...