You heard it right, someone in line at the early voting station in Winter Park, FL actually prevented me from casting my ballot today. These are the times we live in, people! Listen to my tale and you'll get an idea of how things really are out here...
How, you ask? How does someone manage to keep a 6'1" american male who is gung-ho for voting Obama this go-round out of the voting booth??! HOW??!!
I still can't believe it myself... it all happened so fast...
The trouble first started when I arrived at the Winter Park Library around 10am today. The lot was full. And so were the streets surrounding the place. And I took the only spot I could find in the overflow lot. Something was definitely up, you could feel it.
The line was long. Really long. Trying-to-get-a-just-released-IPhone long.
I strolled up to the front and asked the lady working the door how long a wait it was. Her response "Maybe an hour...?". I went to the back of the line.
The atmosphere in the back was jovial. We're experiencing a lovely bout of fall weather here in Florida, which, for the uninitiated, means low 80's and breezy. Women and men of all ages, races and creeds populated the que that snaked a good portion of the perimeter of the library. No one seemed to have a problem with the wait.
No one except the female in front of me...
She seemed okay when I first got there, occasionaly glancing around but not really talking to anyone. But I soon noticed that she had begun to cry. "This is not good", I thought to myself. So I said "Hey.. the line's not that long and it's a beautiful day... there's no need to cry...."
Big mistake.
She suddenly looked at me and her face darkened. Her eyes began to scrunch in a manner I know too well and she began to yell at me!
"Go home! Go home!!" she yelled at me. "GO...... HOME!!!!!"
Shocked, I began to stammer some platitudes and tried to soothe her the best I knew how. But the situation quickly escalated and before I knew it she had produced something from beside her and flung it through the air! I didn't expect it and didn't have time to duck.
It caught me between the eyes.
.
..
...
I blinked for a moment as the world swam back into focus....
Then I calmly picked up her sippy cup, handed it back her, and pushed her stroller back toward the parking lot. My 22 month old daughter has had a cold the last few days and has been understandably grumpy. We'll try again tomorrow, maybe a little earlier...
The point of this misleading missive is that I've never seen lines like this at early voting around here. My wife tried to go yesterday afternoon and encountered the same long lines. If what I've seen here in Orlando is any indication of what's going on nationally, people are pumped up and anxious to exercise their right to vote like never before.
It's impossible to tell from looks alone, of course, but the majority of the good folks that made up that long line I saw today just didn't appear to me to be McCain people. I could be devastatingly wrong, I frequently am, but I don't think so. Not this time.
I left the library without voting today but with a feeling of hope, a commitment to try again tomorrow, and a small dent in my forehead filled with juice.
Mission Accomplished.
UPDATE: Sorry to everyone who asked that I forgot the tip jar. The star of this diary was waking up from her nap as I finished this. Being a stay at home dad reorders your priorities!
UPDATE II: Rec list??! Sheesh, we really need to raise the standards around here! But seriously, thanks to all - a little levity goes a long way!