Voting Anticlimactic in Heated Election
Polling Station: St. Francis of Assissi; 145 Guerrerro St. San Francisco, CA 94103
Time: 7:45 a.m.
Voting is the ultimate anticlimax.
After a full year of the most intense political campaigning most of us have ever seen, completing the arrows on three sheets of paper does not embody the energy and emotion poured into this election. It doesn't help that everything went so smoothly.
I didn't feel intimidated. I didn't see any signs of voter fraud. I didn't even have to wait in line. It would have helped to have waited in line. Making voting feel like an inconvenience would have at least made me feel like I was going out of my way to participate in the democratic process.
I didn't even have to go far. The polling place was at a small retirement community just two blocks from where I live.
Next time, I think I should have to complete an obstacle course just to make it feel like I accomplished something.
Since I live in San Francisco's densely populated Mission district, I got up early to beat the throngs of energized voters who would undoubtedly be waiting in line for hours on end to cast their ballots. I dressed well and walked my bicycle, savoring the short uphill hike to the polling station.
And upon arrival? Throngs of energized voters? No. A dozen people quietly and orderly filling out ballots and feeding them to a machine? Yes.
It's OK though. The day isn't over. Just like in any contest, the climax doesn't come during the game. It comes with nine seconds on the clock. So I'm looking forward to the 11th hour... literally. By 11 p.m. Pacific time, it's very likely we will know who the next president of the United States will be.
Then I can feel something other than anticipation. Then I can know whether to feel joy and fulfillment or dread and disappointment. Maybe then I can finally feel some climax and closure.
Here's hoping it's not another 2000.
Time: 7:45 a.m.
Voting is the ultimate anticlimax.
After a full year of the most intense political campaigning most of us have ever seen, completing the arrows on three sheets of paper does not embody the energy and emotion poured into this election. It doesn't help that everything went so smoothly.
I didn't feel intimidated. I didn't see any signs of voter fraud. I didn't even have to wait in line. It would have helped to have waited in line. Making voting feel like an inconvenience would have at least made me feel like I was going out of my way to participate in the democratic process.
I didn't even have to go far. The polling place was at a small retirement community just two blocks from where I live.
Next time, I think I should have to complete an obstacle course just to make it feel like I accomplished something.
Since I live in San Francisco's densely populated Mission district, I got up early to beat the throngs of energized voters who would undoubtedly be waiting in line for hours on end to cast their ballots. I dressed well and walked my bicycle, savoring the short uphill hike to the polling station.
And upon arrival? Throngs of energized voters? No. A dozen people quietly and orderly filling out ballots and feeding them to a machine? Yes.
It's OK though. The day isn't over. Just like in any contest, the climax doesn't come during the game. It comes with nine seconds on the clock. So I'm looking forward to the 11th hour... literally. By 11 p.m. Pacific time, it's very likely we will know who the next president of the United States will be.
Then I can feel something other than anticipation. Then I can know whether to feel joy and fulfillment or dread and disappointment. Maybe then I can finally feel some climax and closure.
Here's hoping it's not another 2000.
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