On May 4th, 2005, I posted this diary.
Chimpy asked me to put it out there again. It is nice to be remembered, all these years later. Thanks, Chimpy.
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When I was 4...There were hippies hanging out in the park next to my school, and, as we were driving to school, my mother pointed to the hippies, and said to me (I swear she did), "Honey, do you see those people over there? Well, they're communists, and we're capitalists. Always remember that."
That evening, I went upstairs to ask my grandfather about what she said, and he said to me, "Honey, we're Jews. Always remember that. And in every generation, people have wanted to hunt us down and torture us and make us beg to be killed. And these are the same people who will want to kill other people. Black people, poor people, Gypsies. They lie to us, but they never lie to the Black people. Always always always vote, and vote with the Black people. Because your life depends on it."
That's when I got political.
But my brother's story is much cooler.
Later that year, my brother, who was three at the time, was standing in line to vote with my mom, and he broke ranks with the line and ran into a voting booth, closed the curtain, and pulled the lever. He swore he voted Democrat, and my grandfather praised him as a hero.
And he's been a big ol Democrat since then.
Well, who could blame him, really?