I voted this afternoon in Pontiac. The line was 1 1/2 hours long, and it was interesting and completely scary to overhear the people around me talking. I chose to stay out of all the conversation and just listen to the following:
- A mother explained to her young son that we elect a new president every 8 years…she was pretty sure at least. She also told him that this was the first time she had ever voted.
- A man said that he hoped he could vote today. He has actually been living in Warren, Michigan for months, but never changed his registration. The woman he was talking to told him that he shouldn’t worry - her friend was at the same place voting earlier this morning and wasn’t registered or on the registration list. They let her vote anyway. (Sure enough, he was also able to vote.)
- A boy asked his mom why we needed to vote (both of them not of Caucasian descent)- “Why don’t they just make Obama president now?” She explained that everyone needed to vote, because some people didn’t want Obama to be president. He asked her “Why not?”. She turned around and looked at me, hesitated and said “…I’ll tell you later”. I can only assume what she would tell him later.
- One woman told another woman how excited she was that gas prices were going down lately. She said it was because “All those gas companies are scared now…they know Bush is on his way out.” Haven’t we known that for four years now…Really, the gas companies just figured that one out?
- The ballots were taped on the front doors of the building as we walked in. A man standing in front of it asked his friend if they were directions as to what we do when we get in. A person in line behind him explained that they were in fact examples of the ballots we would be using.
- The woman in front of me in line looked at the example ballots and asked the woman in front of her why there were so many names listed as presidential candidates? There’s only two people running for president, right? Who are all those other people?
- A few different people were discussing when the new president gets sworn in. Nobody knew.
- There also was some discussion as to what else we were supposed to be voting on. Nobody knew.
Like I said, scary.
Indeed, very scary. But sadly, not very surprising!
I’ll add another… I heard the two guys in front of me discussing how they couldn’t vote for “John McClane” because he’s too much like Bush. Really? The guy from Die Hard is running for President?
that is pretty sad to hear. except the part about 8 years, i’m pretty sure thats right… every 8th superbowl, i think
all i can say is wow.
All these stories are great. I was at Botsford Hospital and two black male employees were walking by each other in the hall. The one guy said to the other guy “hey Obama” and the other guy replied “whats up Obama”. So is the n word now gone? Are blacks now going to call each other Obama instead of the n word. Will I be able to say “Obama” to a black person because I sure couldn’t call them the n word in a friendly manner like they do to each other. It’s all so confusing. After 4 years of Obama when the lazy people who happen to be black are still poor who are they going to blame then. I guess we will have to wait and see.