Here goes.....
Day 1 of Thankful Andrea: November 2
I am thankful to live in a place where I can vote. I am the second person to tell you that I am not involved enough in politics. (The first would be my friend Beth, who is pretty well-informed in her politics, and who yells at me all the time about it.) I have had a really hard time trying to get involved this year. I want to learn more, especially being a teacher. But, man. I can't handle the negativity that has overtaken the political world. It's almost enough to keep you away from the polls. And actually research is showing that young people (am I still included in that demographic?) are not voting because of the negativity surrounding the political races. And I get that. But still, today I walked into the church down the street from my house in order to cast my ballot on something I knew much less about than Beth. As I walked in the door, I saw my sister, Wendy, sitting at a ballot box, so intently reading her ballot that she could not hear me saying her name. I was three feet away from her. As I was sitting down at my box, with an enormous piece of paper with a lot of names I did not know, I heard the elderly volunteers voicing their hope that they would get 300 people by 3:00. They seemed to think it was not going to happen.
After turning in my ballot, I thought about the importance of what I just did. Granted, it was not as huge as picking out our president. However, if the people living without the "basic" right to vote, were given the chance, they would FILL that church basement today. They ALL would be concentrating as hard as my sister was. Just to have their voices heard. What a gift we have! Yes, our system is FAR from perfect. Really far. But who are we to say "hmmmm....this right I've been given.....the one so many people around the world wish they had....that people fought for us to have.....Nah, no thanks, I'm gonna sit at home and complain about that very right."
Wow. This was deep for Andrea. Ask Beth. Who knew this midterm election would spark this attitude, and this 29 days of thankfulness? I'm thinking maybe it's time to start learning some politics!
On day one of Thankful Andrea, I am thankful for the right to vote.
WOW! I'm MOST impressed that you even referred to it as a midterm election! I'm proud of you, Andrea. I know it's really negative out there and I HATE that too. But it's so important to be able to vote for what you believe in. And to take issue with what you said about it not being as important as voting for the president, I would have to disagree. Our governor actually has more of an effect on our day to day living than the president. (that's just my opinion) Also, it was really important this year to vote for our Iowa supreme court justices, b/c that could have a huge effect on certain issues such as gay marriage. Ok, that's it for my rant. Good job, Andrea! Now I just have to get you to start listening to NPR so you can be more informed!
ReplyDeleteMan, Beth, you always gotta slam me! One step at a time here! At least I'm TALKING about this stuff!!! :)
ReplyDeleteSettle down! I didn't mean it as a slam! I'm actually pretty impressed. An interest was sparked, and that's a great start Andrea!
ReplyDeleteIt looks funny that "Beth and Andrea" is commenting on Andrea's blog.
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