Priceless

I went to vote this morning in local elections and it was a lot easier to find a parking space than when I voted in the last national election. The wait was rather short, too. But that is to be expected.

As I waited for the two people ahead of me to sign in, I read the sign asking people to present ID. I looked in my wallet and pulled out a card. Had I really looked, I would have seen what it was, but I didn't. It has become habit: if I am reaching into my wallet, this is the card I must need. As I got closer to the registration table, I saw that what I had in my hand was not my driver's license, but a debit card. Now that is a sad commentary indeed because clearly my name is not Visa.

The good thing about where I live is that the city has money. You as a citizen may not have any, but the city does, which means you can benefit from good libraries, community programs, etc. We have electronic voting machines, and each voter is given a code to enter, so your vote is identified by code. There are no chads, pregnant or otherwise. (You already forgot about that, didn't you?)

For once I can say that I have actually seen one of the candidates, up close and personal. One of these hopefuls actually came to my church. Not only did he come, but he stayed for the entire service, and went downstairs to talk to people afterwards. Now as a child, I saw candidates come to my church, to do a "drop in and wave". They came, the pastor recognized them, maybe they said a few words, maybe not, and then they left. Of course the fact there there were 5 churches on that particular stretch of road made it a good area to visit because you could hit several congregations at once and still be home for dinner.

After I had electronically selected my choice for the next governor, etc. I received a smile and an "I voted" sticker with a wavy American flag on it. Not bad at all, considering that my own father narrowly missed being shot when he traveled to Mississippi to try to register voters in the 60s. Not bad at all.