Tuesday, February 5, 2008

I Voted

Phil and I went to our neighborhood community center to vote this morning. We each got a sticker exactly like this one. Eden got one too. Have I mentioned that the neighborhood we live in is a very "well established" one? (That is code for "everyone-in-our-neighborhood-is-really-
really-old-except-for-us.")

Although we often don't dress Eden in lots of pink, today her daddy dressed her in a pink turtle-neck (with thin blue stripes) and pink sweat pants. She was looking all girl. Imagine my surprise when one of the many elderly gentlemen at the community center approached me and said, "he is a cute little fella, i'int he?" "Is he a good boy?" "Is he always such a happy little fella?" etc. I can only imagine that this man's ability to see color has deteriorated along with his four front teeth (which were completely missing, creating a rather adorable grin). He really was a nice man.

Our ballots here were different than I've ever seen. There is a broken (in the middle) arrow. The voter is given a black marker with the instructions to draw a line through the broken section of the candidate/delegate of choice. I completed my ballot and went to take Eden from Phil who was carefully completing his arrows (not just a line connecting the two parts but actually "finishing" the arrows). I LOVE this man/artist of mine!

As we left the community center we were approached by a reporter with a video camera. She asked if we would do an interview for the local newspaper. She asked us who we voted for and why. It made me glad that I voted for the actual candidate I hope wins instead of my one-time plan of voting for Obama simply as an anti-Hillary vote. I figure Alabama is going republican and probably not with my guy so my vote could be best used voting against the Clintons. This morning I decided to vote my honest choice instead of such a calculated, strategic, cynical vote. I'm glad that the Anniston Star doesn't have to do a story on my strategy.

After we voted, Eden and I went ... where else ... to Target. I was picking out the ice cream for our FHE tonight (Phil teaches on Mondays so we have it on Tuesdays, unless of course he has a show opening or I have YWs on Tuesdays, then we have it on Sundays, unless of course he has had chemo that weekend, then we have it on Thursdays, at any rate, we are having FHE tonight and since he has chemo this weekend and will therefore be unable to eat anything cooler than room temperature we are having ice cream tonight - because we can). After selecting the Target brand version of Moose Tracks, I turned my attention back to my cutie. She had that "who me?" look on her face so I immediately scanned her to see why she looked so guilty. It wasn't long before I realized that her "I Voted" sticker was no longer on her pink-with-blue-stripes shirt. At that very moment she tightened her lips as if to say, "I dare you to infiltrate and retrieve." I won. The sticker was not ingested (although I suspect most of the adhesive was).

Good times!

2 response(s):

Anonymous said...

We had the boy/girl mix-up when Jonathan was a baby. He was dressed in "manly man" clothes--little jeans, hiking boots, red flannel shirt, etc. etc., and we had an elderly gentleman comment on what a sweet little girl we had! It must be the elderly gentleman thing!

Alisha said...

Both my girls were mistaken for boys most of their infant lives, despite lots of pink and purples. It wasn't until their hair began to fill in that those moments ended. Trey never had the boy/girl mix up...I can completely relate on the whole voting experience right down to connect the nice arrows and being the only individual under 65 in the voting room!