Yet another Election Day post

kerri_berri and I went to vote at about 6pm. When we got to town hall, there was a lot of traffic, people everywhere. Tons of people waiting to vote but it moved really really quickly. Kerri asked which number she was when she turned in her ballot--1640, something like that, in her precinct. Considering there were five precincts and this is not a big town, that was fabulous.

I live in Massachusetts so it's not like there was any swing-state drama, but I was still so glad to see all those people who *cared*. Last time, my sister and I went to vote and we were the youngest people who had been there all day, and the place was deserted. Such a big difference, it was really impressive.

The voting itself went well, no problems other than that I am a dufus. I looked at the precinct list, found Main Street, went to that precinct, told the ancient and adorable ladies where I lived, and had them look at me blankly then blink a lot before trying to find me.

A couple minutes of mumbling later, I said, 'oh. wait. does it make a difference that I live on *North* Main Street?'

Yes. Yes, apparently it does. Who'd have guessed?!?

One of the adorable little ladies led me by the hand to the proper precinct and made sure I was all set, and off I went to vote. Twenty-three years old, second time voting for president, and I still needed a monitor to make sure I did it right. I rock.

After I watched the Daily Show, I wished I could've snuck back in and done a couple write-in votes for Jon Stewart. And now, I am sitting around and waiting, and hoping for the best. :-)

(no subject)

I have such a hard time coping with the idea that my values put me in the minority. Looking at the electoral map with that overwhelming block of red states, I can't help but get a little depressed. Tucked away in the heart of the blue states, raised in Massachusetts where *Bill Weld* was the face of the Republican party when I was growing up, with a way-to-the-left mother and a bunch of socially liberal friends...I guess I got a little idealistic.

So yeah, I'm depressed and I'm mad, just like everyone else. But no matter what the block of electoral votes looks like, I know that individuals in all of those states voted for Kerry, they voted against banning gay marriage, they voted against insane senators who shouldn't be allowed to feed themselves, let alone hold an office. All across this country there are people who maybe don't share all of my beliefs, but share enough of them to almost, almost create balance in this country.

I'm tired, and I'm going back to bed because I stayed up late enough and stressed out badly enough that I can't face my uber-Republican employers, who are so totally going to gloat--my boss was already gloating at 4pm yesterday--so I called in to work. But I'm only allowing myself one morning to wallow in misery. This afternoon, I'm going to look and see what I can do to make sure that my voice is heard during the next four years.

And because I'm an idealist and an optimist almost despite myself, I want to see what I can do to make sure that the the values shared by 49% of this nation, the values shared by people in *every* state no matter what color they are on the map, are respected as much as possible during the next four years of this administration.

Suggestions appreciated. :)