| Food for Thought |
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WARNING: Contents under pressure. DO NOT OPEN IN AN INTELLECTUAL VACUUM. ~ A rubber stamp
In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of. ~Confucius
"The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do." ~Sarah Ban Breathnach
"I would not exchange the laughter of my heart for the fortunes of the multitudes." ~Khalil Gibran
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi
"How can we say there is peace when so many go hungry?" ~Oscar Arias Sanchez
"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." ~Attributed to both T.H. Thompson and John Watson
"Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infans. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. ~Omar N Bradley
"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it." ~Margaret Fuller
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| Tuesday, September 12, 2006 |
| Voting Is a Sad Business |
I often think that, despite the fact the US is supposed to be a civilized and democratic country, its citizens are often anything but civilized and democratic.
Voting is every US citizen's privilege and civic duty and, yet, it often seems as though we are actively discouraged from voting, whether it is through inconvenient voting locations, lost ballots, or rude/incompetent onsite poll people. I won't even go into the the fiasco that was the 2000 presidential election, which was a farce no matter which party one belonged to.
So.
So, I should have known that tonight would be yet another no good experience because my mum had just voted and was complaining about it.
I normally vote in the early morning because 1/ I'm a day person, and 2/ I never could tell when I would get off work, even though the polls close at 9 p.m. If I voted in the morning, then I knew I'd taken care of the matter and that would be it.
Today, I was running a little late, so I went to work first. I left on time (YESSSSS!!) and came home to vote.
My experience can be summed up in this complaint: why is it that the onsite polling people are invariably -- invariably!! -- incompetent or rude or stupid or all of the above?
Not once since I began voting (never you mind how ancient and decrepit I am. Suffice it to say, I've been voting since I became eligible) has it ever been a smooth and pleasant experience. And tonight is the first time my name has ever not appeared in the voter registration book. To even get a paper ballot was fraught with much rudeness on my part and theirs... I assure you I tend to be patient and can be polite to the point of absurdity, but I admit I lost it when one of the poll people kept asking me, "Are you sure you're not Coffee?" To which, I responded, with gritted teeth and much attitude, "No! My name is Tea!"
Quite honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if my paper ballot somehow disappears into a shredder or the trash. After all, I'll never know, and nobody at the Board of Elections would ever know.
One last quick example: My mother once nearly came to blows with a poll person because that person kept insisting my mother vote a certain way... which is illegal, of course. My mother has a bit of an accent (but she's quite easily understood), so I think that the rudesby assumed that she would be ignorant of the laws here and might be intimidated because a lot of immigrants are -- often with good reason -- by forceful people/people in positions of authority.
Ha! Me mum, a normally very, very, very mild person, gave that rudesby what for! Verbally, of course. Concisely, my mother told that person that it wasn't true she had to vote that way (the way the pollster wanted) and that what that person was doing was against the law. Bwahahahahaha! Ahem.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised that mum didn't back down from that idiot.
So ends my rant. |
posted by Cheshire Cat @ 9/12/2006 07:53:00 pm   |
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| 14 teabag(s) brewed: |
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its good to have you back and in posting form!
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Thank you very kindly, Doc! :-D
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Dang, Girl!!!
It is sooooooo good to have you back and lively! Even a rant from you sounds like music to my ears!
That's all - just had to say that. Consider it a virtual hug. The kind that takes your breath away and nearly knocks you off your feet!
I'll go on over to my corner now and try to behave myself....
****sounds of gleeful skipping and humming fading into the distance****
****THUD****
(Erk! That would be proof positive that skipping at my age is most definitely a bad idea!)
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Blimey T. Is your name really Tea?
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Lol, EC. Your more-than-gracious words put a monstrously huge smile on my face. I thank thee muchly!
Aloha, Princess Fuff. Actually, what the blankety-blank person said was (3x, no less!), "Are you sure you're not Coffee & Books?" (Right surname, wrong given name.)
Honestly, you'd think that I'd know my own name after Z many years. Grrrrr! :-D
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Hey, good to see you're back at the blogging!
Sorry 'bout the voting experience. I guess I've had pretty good luck, done most of my voting as a resident of Denver and those people are ON TOP OF IT, let me tell ya.
I remember reading that Jimmy Carter, who leads a group that works to oversee fair elections in other nations, said after the 2000 US debacle, that the US voting system is such a poor patchwork thing that his group would not agree, even if asked, to monitor any US election. Meaning the system doesn't even meet their minimum requirements.
Gadzooks. The developing democracies are outstripping us in this too!
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The polling folks in El Mirage were really nice; in fact I think they were pretty happy to see me. From the looks of the voter turnout I was probably the first one to turn up. The only bothersome thing was once again I had few if any choices.
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For a minute there I thought parents really did name their children 'coffee'. I do know that people name their children Tea but whatever.. crazy white people.
And voting is bad just about anywhere but I don't mind seeing as how I'd have to wait about 2 or 6 years to vote <.<
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If I don’t like any of the choices I write my own name in and vote for myself - I couldn’t possibly dick it up any worse than the a-holes that are on the ballot.
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t
Welcome back! The Blogosphere just hasn't been the same without you.
Around here all the folks in charge of voting seem to be elderly volunteers. I can read better upsidedown than they can rightside up.
We vote at our town meeting hall / Village court room. It's shares a lobby with the Village Clerks office and the Local Police.
They are slow and somewhat silly but impecably honest. I think...
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Vote early and vote often, I always say.
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Just stopped by to see how you were. Good to see Nanuck is back!!
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C'mon you, stop teasing us and come back..properly. I miss you :)
Hope the job's going well.
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its good to have you back and in posting form!