When I was in elementary school, fun was attending a birthday party or splashing around in a twelve inch deep pool. In high school, dances and sleep overs were fun. Fun got fun-er in college. Every Saturday night we made the rounds of the fraternity parties. Fun was sort of like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJcw4yoIseo One's idea of what is fun changes over the years. Playing Thumper and chugging has completely lost its appeal. But I still love a good time, and yesterday I had more fun than a barrel of candidates. I worked the polls.
About a year ago, I received a notice in the mail asking for applicants to serve as election workers. Since I'm retired, I thought, Why not? My application led to a training class in October 2011. I spent November 8, 2011at the county court house on Rancocas Road counting absentee ballots. I enjoyed the experience and looked forward to the next election. When I didn't get a call for yesterday's primary, I was disappointed.
The disappointment ended yesterday morning at 7:40 a.m. I got a last minute call to fill in at the polls in Moorestown. I abandoned a perfectly good pot of coffee, hit the shower, and hightailed it to the Moorestown Library. Working at the poll was new for me, and I didn't know what to expect. I don't know how they do it in other townships, but the people in Moorestown know how to party!
Lest you think it was all fun and games with no work, let me explain what "party" means. Every one was friendly, relaxed, and happy to be there. The election workers knew everyone in the neighborhood, so every voter was greeted warmly. Turnout was light, so there was time to ask about kids and show off pictures of grandchildren. What a sense of community!
I was warned that there would be dancing at the end of the day. Sure enough, after working from 5:15 a.m. till 8:00 p.m., three of the ladies whooped it up and did a little mummer's strut around the room. We all had a good laugh. After the dancing ritual, reports were run, the voting machines were closed and locked, and the results were delivered to the township offices.
We would rather have had less fun. We remarked over and over during the day that voter turnout was disappointing. Sure, it was just a primary with no hot issues. Still, voting is your voice. Ladies, do your hear me ladies? We did not have the right to vote until 1920. Until ninety two years ago, women were second class citizens in this country. The struggle for women's suffrage began in 1848. It took seventy two years to win the right to vote. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage_in_the_United_States
So, make me work for my pay. Run me ragged. A little less chit-chat and a lot more voting is what I want to see.
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