Why is it that some voting lines look like the lines for the Iniana Jones, but don't end with the fantastic thrill ride? Ugh. I gave up on voting today and decided to vote tomorrow when I had more free time to wait and not miss class. I don't even want to know what Tuesday will look like. It is nice to see that voting booths are starting to catch up to Disneyland popularity.
I was completely caught of guard this week by the "I voted" stickers. Those little suckers just jump right out at you. I honestly don't know how I feel about them. I want one and at the same time I want to rip them off of people and stomp on them. They pressure me to vote, which I guess is something I'm not pressured to do, but if I was anyone else it may be a huge issue. Also, they make me extremely jealous. Since I was little I've always wanted to have one, especially when I saw my parents wearing them. They hold some intense patriotic symbolism. Everyone wearing an "I voted" sticker is connected to anyone else wearing one, they have a sense of belonging because of a simple, possibly much greater, action. That sense of greater belonging to a social network might be what I am looking for, I doubt it, maybe it's just a day of social acceptance? Maybe feeling important? A little bit smarter? More aware? Or proving that as a 20 year old woman I can, and did just vote.
I feel like if I don't wear this at some point, some people will question my credibility. On a daily basis I'm asked who I'm voting for and when I'm voting; I do the same to others so I really can't complain. I actually just asked my mother who pretty much admitted she just sent in a ballot for McCain. After almost yelling, I asked her how she feels about not getting a sticker and shes said that "she doesn't really care about them anymore, shes gotten way too many..." Seeing as this will be my first time voting, I was a little offended. This would be my first sticker, so to hear her non-chalantly wave them off, hurt a bit (Along with my vote cancelling hers out). On the 4th I'm sure this will occur nonstop, unfortunately I won't have a sticker to validate my claim. Maybe I can try and make my own.
Regardless, I know that if at some point I don't get an "I voted" sticker I will feel slightly empty inside. That alone tells me that these stickers mean more to some of us than they probably should.
By the way, who even pays for these things? I'd like to know these stickers come to be. If we can elect a candidate that would use the money to pay for just these rather than advertising with really annoying billboards or commercials, they can increase their chances for my vote.