On Tomorrow....

I am not a person who identifies strongly with the word "patriotic." However, I get very passionate and patriotic about voting.

So, my word for my American readers is this:

Vote!

I have two reasons that the apathy of my early twenties has been replaced by intense participation.

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In 2005 I voted in a local election. That specific local election ended up being decided by ten votes. TEN! If six people had changed their minds, it would have gone the other way.

Unfortunately, that election ended up shutting down the local library.

To the embarrassment of those of us involved in Bedford, this was the first time in the history of Texas that a local library was shut down permanently. (It opened back up after an anonymous donation of $300,000 was given to the city.)

When I consider that there were thousands of residents who didn't vote, who didn't pay attention, and who yelled when the library closed and the City stopped mowing, I never, ever take my vote for granted.

No, every election won't be (hopefully, if the Usability people have been doing their jobs) a Florida 2000, but especially on local elections, every vote always matters.

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My grandfather passed away two years ago. In his lifetime women in in America were not allowed to vote. The women who fought for my right to vote were beaten and imprisoned.

As I have become more aware of the world we live in, I cannot take this right that was fought for with such difficulty for granted. If I want equality for women, if I want the rights I feel are important, if I want my opinions expressed, I must vote.

And I cannot look at the pictures like this one of women voting for the first time, not vote, and feel like I am not letting my great-grandmothers down.

At some other date I will post about how much it irritates me that google now actively ANTI-searches newspaper archives that are publicly shared so that I couldn't find the stories I wanted to link to.