Is This The Line For The Beer, Or Is This The Line For The Tickets For The Beer?

~~~

This is not Virginia's first experience being a battleground state. This is not Winchester and Frederick County's first experience being fought over by opposing sides of the same country. For days now, local news has been predicting record turnout and long lines. Over and over and over, the words had been coming out of my own mouth, "It's going to be busy. Get there early if you can."



I pulled on a hoodie and slinked outside. My target time for poll arrival had been 5:00. It was already 5:30. Damn. The school is only half a mile down the road, but I took the truck. It was still dark outside and a heavy, wet fog was blanketing everything. It was a relief to find a whole lot of empty at the elementary school. One woman was frantically sticking about 100 McCAIN-PALIN signs in the ground. At the entry door, a woman and two men were standing, smiling politely. I cued up behind them. By 5:40, the line had grown to about 40 people, a few of whom brought lawn chairs.

At six o'clock, the door opened and a woman announced loudly, "The polls are now open!" It was Alpha - the woman who eventually hugged me at the start of the Primary Election Day. About 65 people were in line, but things moved rather quickly. Five tables had been set up to process voters. My name was looked-up, a card was handed to me, and I was before the touch screen. There were only three screens of ballots to vote on; Who y'ant ta be Prezdent, Who y'ant ta be Senter, and Whozzit gwa be fer the Congress. When I touched my selection for President, I was ready to feel like history was being made, but it felt more like I was ordering an MTO drink at Sheetz. Make mine a mocha.

Voting always gives me a kick, but there was a little something extra today, and it came from an unexpected place. The excitement wasn't at the voting booth. It was in the line. All these people got up early to do this, despite (or maybe even because of) the fact that they'd clearly gotten word that it was going to be busy and somewhat inconvenient. This morning was not really about McCain and Obama. It was about the people - all those people - in all those lines.









~~~