Wednesday, August 14, 2024
I voted!
I love voting.
Part of it for me is seeing my neighbors, the orderly sense of it, the feeling that it matters (even when it doesn't so much, as with many primaries).
In Michigan and Texas, my voting places were usually ringed with people waving signs and sometimes the candidates themselves yelling over a rope. The more contested the election, the more people would be there, creating a cacophony outside the elementary school. We don't do that in Minnesota, apparently-- it is a quiet and somber experience.
The big election, of course, will be in November, and like a lot of Americans I am thinking about that a lot. But this one-- which matters, but not as much--moves my heart.
It's a privilege, isn't it? To be able to stand there with the neighbors, saying our names, attesting to our desire to follow the rules, and then filling in the little bubbles beside the names of people we don't know (or, sometimes, do know).
Thanks, America.
