It's Voting Day, Y'all!

My father used to tell me, "You are not allowed to complain about our politicians if you don't exercise your right to vote!"

Oh dad... You silly goose!

But you know what?  He has a point!...and I have followed true to this statement since I legally was able to step into a voting booth.  It's basically saying, "If you don't like it, get off your tail and DO SOMETHING about it!", which I am a firm believer in!

Today is Primary election voting day here in Illinois, and as many of you know, Illinois has become sort of a National political joke.

With good ol' ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich being ousted from office, and former Gov. George Ryan currently sitting in prison (eesh!), we don't have the best track record here...

Even in today's paper, news broke that a former city alderman plead guilty to corruption charges of taking bribes from a developer.

God help our state!

This is why it is very important to get out there and vote!  We need to clean up this RIDICULOUSNESS!

But please don't vote blindly!  Educate yourselves first. 

My personal opinion is if it seems like Nothing is getting done, then VOTE 'EM ALL OUT!  Vote new blood in!

Now...

I never said that voting is a pleasant experience.  I merely said it was important.

This morning, I walked the block and a half to my designated polling place.  I enter the room, and immediately face Eight old, and I mean OLD elderly people staring back at me, sitting at 2 long tables.

Not one person said a word to me.  There really wasn't a line...so i just stood there.  Finally, i said, "Ummm...Where do i start?"  They all still just looked at me.

Come on, election judges.  Get it together! 

Finally one of the gentlemen speaks up, "Step over," in a tone as if my presence annoyed him.  Well, apparently I was bothering him, because when I told him my address, he barked, "You're in the wrong place."  I'm thinking, the wrong place?  I know I just checked my voter card right before leaving my house.

"You're supposed to be at the other table over there."

Oh brother...  Can I just vote already?

In the meantime, the other 7 election judges are just staring at me.  Awkward!!!

So, I step the three steps over to where I was supposed to be.  As the guy is looking through his book of registered voters, turning the pages at a snail's pace, I see him pass by my name a couple of times, but let it go...trying to be patient, knowing that he will eventually find it.

Seriously, about 2 minutes later, I finally stop him and point, "That's me right there!"  STOP

He hands the card to the lady sitting next to him, who literally takes the card and hands it to the guy next to her.  Wow, that is a real important job!  What would they have done without her showing up today!

Then, he proceeds to ask me, "Would you like a paper ballot, or an electronic one?"

Well, considering that I just saw how much time it took for him to explain the electronic balloting to the citizen ahead of me, I immediately said, "Paper!  I'll take the paper ballot!"  Yes, I've done this before, so you don't have to explain it!

So there you have it...

I performed my civic duty, y'all!  It wasn't pretty, but I did it! 

AND, I feel good about it.

Now, I hope you do yours too...