I got to go to the polls early yet again, this time in the much talked about Virginia Gubernatorial election that’s coming up. Just like with the big national election last year, I decided to vote early because – given my health – it’s impossible to know each day when I wake up whether I’m gonna have a good day or a bad day. Rather than end up risking having some kind of catastrophe come up that day and lose my opportunity to vote, I decided to take advantage of feeling well enough to go out this past Saturday to go ahead and get my vote in. Also, there’s just no way my body would be capable of waiting in line to vote, that could have potentially dangerous consequences.
Thankfully, my county’s awfully nice about early voting. I went to my local senior center, walked right in, and cast my ballot! Easy-peasy. 🙂
Not only was it easy, the folks volunteering there were awfully nice. We also had a bit of a laugh, thanks to my somewhat unfortunate choice of umbrella… it was raining pretty heavily off and on that day, so I grabbed the only umbrella I had on hand: one of those silly super-touristy Union Flag umbrellas that you see hanging from all those knick-knack kiosks in London. (Yes, it’s the Union Flag, not the Union Jack, since I wasn’t flying it at sea.) It was kind of a long-running joke with Alastair that each time I came to London, I had to get something super touristy to bring home, ever since I bought one of those Union Flag tshirts (they never make those big enough for us well-endowed Americans… you should fix that, you peoples at the London Tourism agencies. You should have the regular sizes of small, medium, and large, then just tack one on at the end: American. Hehe. Although, granted, I did read an article that the most naturally well-endowed woman in the world – at least on record – is a girl in Britain, but still… anyway, that’s a tangent for another day…)
Annnnnyway. 🙂 So I brought my Union Flag umbrella with me, but when it’s all closed up, you can’t really tell what it is, beyond a lot of patriotic-looking red, white, and blue. When I was signing up at the check-in table to get my ballot, one of the volunteers piped up, “Look how patriotic you are!” and pointed at my umbrella. I laughed and said, “Um, actually… I should apologize, cause it’s British…”
Of course, everyone jokingly booed and objected. But the best part came when, just as I was sitting down at the table to wait for them to verify my voter registration, a nice gentleman reached over my shoulder and put a cute little American flag on the table, right next to my British umbrella. He said somewhat sternly, “There you go, all fixed. Now they cancel each other out.”
All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday. 🙂 Big thanks to everybody who, year after year, always volunteers at the polls. This patriotic American – despite what umbrella I may be carrying – certainly appreciates it. 🙂
And to everyone else out there in Virginia and New Jersey, don’t forget to vote!!