Standing in line, to see the show tonight...

... or to vote for our new political leaders... same thing.

So great is our angst to "get out the vote," that Starbucks is giving me free coffee, and Ben and Jerry's is giving me free ice cream, just for voting. News flash, America, I would have done it anyhow. But I appreciate the bribery! :-)

Standing in line this morning, to cast my vote, I was struck by a few things:

1) Like it or not, informed or not, best choices or not, in the US of A, the people do have a voice. The people I was standing in line with may or may not have actually known anything about the candidates that they were voting for except "change" and "experience," but come what may, their votes actually play a role in determining who our next leaders are... and that in and of itself is a beautiful thing that we often neglect to applaud sufficiently.

2) I was amazed by how many races were un-contended. Having done my research like the educated voter that I am, I knew there were a couple candidates that I could not support, but they were the only ones that were running for that particular office. For all our political passions and enthusiasm, we are personally apathetic... is it really democracy, if the candidate is basically a shoe in? Is it really "voting" if there is no second party? or, heaven forbid, third party?

3) In the course of one five minute session, I got to vote on whether or not MA should abolish the income tax, whether marijuana use should be de-criminalized, and whether dog racing should be banned. There are days in which I love living in this state.

For all the schmooze, "voters" are ordinary people... ordinary people who accidentally lean on the light switches on the wall, casting the entire voting auditorium into darkness, multiple times... ordinary people who live next door to me... ordinary people who care deeply enough to stand in line for 45 minutes to an hour to cast their ballot... ordinary people, who as they walk into the ballot box are still looking for wisdom and "truth." Ordinary people who just want to see our country become a better place, even though they might disagree on the mechanism for getting there... such is a beautiful thing, my friends! And for that reason, I applaud democracy. I applaud election day. And as much as I hate politicians, I applaud the political system, in that it forces us to use our voices to speak in favor of a "better USA."

Go team. Let the games begin...