Because I had agreed to babysit for Jackson on election
day, I voted at 7:30 am in Crozet. Tom
brought Jackson to the studio at 8:30.
I had volunteered, late in the game, to drive people to
the polls from 9:00 to 1:00, saying that I only had three seat belts - my 8
year old grandson would drive with us. I
was worried about the outcome of the election because of the weight of
Republican attack adds.
When I called the number of the person who was in charge
of assigning drivers to voters, she asked if Jackson and I would go to the Carver
Recreation Center to hand out sample ballots, we were needed more there. Jackson and I went to what I thought was
Carver Recreation Center. I had found a
bound copy of Pogo from the 1950s to keep Jackson from terminal boredom.
We drove the mile to what I thought was the Carver
Recreation Center. There was no one at
the table with Democratic sample ballots held down by a rock. Someone had bent the Warner signs in half so
that they were illegible. Jackson and I
straightened them and propped them back up.
People came by and gladly took the sample ballots from Jackson. A wizened woman came up to me and asked, “Is
this the Carver Recreation Center?”
I said that it was.
She went in to vote. A few
minutes later she came out saying, “They tell me this is the Key Recreation
Center; the Carver Recreation Center is at the old Jefferson School.”
My resource person confirmed this by telephone and sent us
to Carver. The gentle old lady, Jackson,
and I drove to the right recreation center.
The old lady went in to vote. Dismayed.
I saw that the Democratic table was 20 feet away from the path people took
to vote. The Republican table abutted
the path. I said to Jackson, “What is
this? The Democratic table and our signs
are practically invisible from the path.”
The man by the Republican table immediately said “I didn’t do it.” Jackson
and I moved the table over next to, but not in front of, the Republican
table. We moved a Warner sign and a Gaughan
sign over to the tiny crowded patch of earth, next to the Republican table; our
signs were easily seen from the path to the polls. I held the other Warner and Gaughan signs
against the Democratic card table. (Next
time I’ll bring duct tape.) Then Jackson
sat down to read Pogo. I was delighted
that he liked it.
The old lady came out of the polls. A man I know had just arrived with a car full
of voters. I asked him if he had room
to take the old woman home. He did and he did.
A few people took sample
ballots from me. I was pleased by the
many people who didn’t – who knew how they were to vote. I chatted to the Republican, and found to my
surprise that he was a sensible and intelligent man. We talked a while. I realized that I had not talked to a moderate
Republican for years.
Jackson decided to hand out sample ballots. Most people took ballots from him; he offered
the ballots with great charm.
A woman came to the curb in a black car. She asked if someone could come to her car to
take her vote, she was handicapped. I
said I’d see. I gave her a Democratic sample
ballot and said I’d bring her a Republican one if she wished. She didn’t wish. I asked Jackson if he’d be O.K. for a minute
while I got someone from the polling place to take her vote. He said he would and the Republican said he’d
keep an eye on him. Two people from the
polls came down and took the woman’s vote.
A few friends came by and we chatted briefly. The time seemed to go quickly. At around 11:30, late for him, Jackson ate
his lunch. A woman came by who was as
worried as I was by the meager offering in Warner/Gaughan signs. She said she had some signs at home and would
bring them.
At noon the Republican man decamped and his replacement
came. At 1:00 I called in and asked if
we could go home; we were excused. As we
drove away from the center we saw the worried woman posting signs on the strip of
lawn in front of the Recreation Center.
We went back to my studio fed the goldfish, and played
and chatted until Betsy came to pick up Jackson.
I went home happy.
The day with Jackson was fun and we’d both been useful. Ox and I watched the 10:00 o'clock news with
dismay and went to bed early. Jackson’s
day with me had been such a delight, that I didn’t have a chance to develop
post-election depression. 2016 is
another year and I have hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment