I've never gone to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. I'd like to, someday, but I'm out of town again this year on the big weekend.
So I went and stood in the rain where people check in and pick up their wristbands for the big event, and pestered people to register to vote. Man, I love Travis County, and the beautiful City of Austin.
This was the first day to pick up wristbands, and the weather was crap. Cloudy, with drizzle. Of course, after an August where we only had seven days of sub-100-degree weather, it was kinda nice.
So, only really responsible people come out to pick up wristbands on the FIRST day, in the RAIN. Most of these folks are already registered, but I was pleased at how excited some of them were to see us out there registering folks. For five hours of quizzing, we got eight people registered. I've made some strides in my own confidence about talking to strangers, and taken the first big step in fulfilling my duties as a sworn Deputy Voter Registrar.
The cop patrolling the area was nice enough to encourage us to come back Wednesday through Friday, when the pickup spot is really jumping. We were planning on it, anyway, but it's cool to have "The Man" telling us to come back.
SO...
It's my first diary here, and I'm already tooting my own horn. But I can't help it, I gotta tell ya--I feel good for having gotten some people registered! It's my first step in the 12-step process of becoming politically active.
I owe a fair amount of thanks to the dKos folks who have stepped up and said "All right. I'm gonna get out from behind the keyboard and get involved!" Your willingness to take the plunge helped kick my butt in gear. ¡Graciás!
If you're interested in seeing some great tools that Travis County has put together, check out True Blue Travis and True Blue Action
I'm proud to be a Blue Dot!