"I VOTED TODAY..."

...well actually yesterday. I stood in line at Vets Memorial for 4 hours. I knew I really wouldn't have an hour (or longer) to wait on Tuesday. So, I thought it best to wait when I didn't have anything else to do. It was worth it. Although my back, empty stomach, bladder, and feet would beg to differ. I was really stupid for waiting so long to go. My mother and brother went about a little over a week ago and were basically in and out. It was a serious lesson learned.

Well, the polls opened at 1pm. I got there at 12:15pm along with about 50 other people...which was after a couple of hundred people. Because the facility had yet to open, we initially stood outside, and at the time were pretty close to the "end of the line", which only spanned the length of the building (we were standing against the wall.) At about 12:40 they opened the doors...only for us to walk into a gymnasium sized room with tables and chairs (serving as ropes) to which we were to weave in and out. There were concession stands of pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, pretzels and lemonade in two locations inside this room. We were in there for about an hour and a half. Next, it was off to a hallway and up some stairs, where there was another winding line with ropes...and at the end, the voting booths! About a 2.5 hour wait all together.

By the time we got up the stairs, the line outside had grown...and wrapped around into the parking lot. All of those poor unsuspecting people... Had no idea of the BIG room with tables...and then the true line just before voting. A bunch of us took pics with our phones. Here was my best shot:



Here is a story from The Columbus Dispatch describing what the wait was like yesterday:

"LONG LINES GREET EARLY VOTERS"

About 2 hours into the line I had to go to the bathroom... I actually held it to the end. I hadn't eaten anything since 8am. But, hunger didn't bother me to the point of sickness... And my back was KILLING me. I saw about 2 or 3 other pregnant women...a lot further along than I and I could not believe they were standing that long. To distract me from the pain, I talked with other people in line and listened to my MP3 player...and by 3:45pm I was walking into the room to cast my absentee ballot. One of my line-mates said he felt like Rocky at the top of the steps...and then began chanting the theme. As I walked in to get my ballot, I briefly forgot about having to use the bathroom, how bad my back hurt, and that I was starving. Oh and what a great sense of accomplishment when I sealed that envelope! I thought I would get a sticker that said, "I VOTED TODAY." But instead I got this sticker:



Believe it or not, I feel like I did make a difference.