Election Day

Today is November 2nd - Election Day!  Growing up, both of my parents were in politics.  My mom served on the library board for, I think, 13 years.  Many of those years she served as president.  My dad was a village trustee.  He served on our town council.  I'll be honest, I don't remember how many years he served in office.  I remember spending afternoons and weekends taking pamphlets to front doors.  I remember my mom's reaction when she found out we had put them in mailboxes - oops!  She spent that afternoon going back to those houses to place them correctly.  In high school I ran for class representative.  I also participated in taking over village hall with my classmates, sitting in my dad's old spot.  (I did manage to get a road repaired from that experience!)

My childhood almost revolved around politics.  How ironic that now politics is one of the furthest things from my mind.  I have no desire to serve in office.  The closest thing I get to politics now is writing letters advocating about diabetes and healthy lunch choices in the schools.  I received an email recently from the ADA asking if I'd like to go to D.C. and lobby for a few days.  Now that I could see doing!  (Though my budget says not right now.)

Voting is sometimes very difficult for me.  I get overwhelmed by all of the information out there about the candidates.  It's hard to find unbiased factual information about each person's platform.  Even if you can, it's hard to know if they'll follow through.  Remember IL's former governor who had education top on his list then cut a ton of funding once he took office?  I refuse to play "eenie-meanie-miney-moe" while in the booth, so I do admit that I skip some sections.  I believe it is a right and a privilege to vote, but I also feel it's a right not to vote.  However, decisions are made by those who show up, so if you don't show up, don't complain! 

I've been dealing with a cold for over a week now.  I admit that I would have loved to stay in my pajamas, but I got dressed and voted.  Our polling place is in a church basement that houses a soda machine.  Knowing it was there and knowing I would want a drink, I put two quarters in my pocket before heading over.  Yes, this is the result. "I voted Diet Coke!"

Just a little election day humor!