The year they made it legal for 18 year olds to vote, I voted for the first time. Since that time I have not missed an election and the opportunity to vote. I haven't always picked the winner, I haven't always made good choices, but I voted, I got counted.
Many people will say the voting is a right or even a privilege. I guess that may be true, but to me it has always been a responsibility, a duty. I have never understood those who didn't vote. Why was America so low in voter turn out, even compared with third world countries? The last election, when I went to vote, I got there at 6 AM and they weren't ready and I had to wait 10 minutes to be the first one to vote. There wasn't another voter there when I arrived or when I finished and departed.
This morning I went to vote. I got there at 20 minutes before 6 AM and there were already 30 to 40 people waiting in line, in the rain, to vote. I cannot describe the feeling I had seeing all those people standing in the rain. Some had umbrellas, most didn't, including me. There was a sense in that line that we were a part of something special.
We went inside at 6 AM, got in our appropriate line, got our names checked off , and voted. The room was full of people out early to vote. I got emotional just watching what was happening. There were old and young, black and white, all there to vote. It was like the sleeping giant had awakened and decided to get involved. I knew that I was looking at the election of my dreams. Whatever the outcome of the election, this was an incredible day.
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