This time of year is especially beautiful because of all the vibrant fall colors. Look around; the landscape is covered with yellow, orange, red, white and blue campaign signs. It seems you can’t drive anywhere without seeing them stuck along the side of the road. They’ve been put there by candidates who have an important message: “Vote for me, because compared to everyone else, I have way more campaign signs.”
Before every election, candidates also stump from major intersections. We saw them before the primary; we'll see them again when they gear up for November. They hold up their signs, smile and wave as the cars drive by. I always wave back—frankly, they all look like nice people. And I admire them, because I don’t think I could run for office. These people promise to make my city a better place; half the time I can’t even promise to make my family a decent dinner.
But at least I vote. I think everybody should. In the primary election I voted absentee, like always. I get too stressed inside that little booth with the curtain. Faced with all those choices at once, I forget who I’m supposed to vote for. One time I got especially confused. “Nothing’s fitting right,” I complained, “and where the heck is the mirror?”
So now I vote ahead of time, with everything I need by my side: absentee ballot, Voters Pamphlet, Ouiji board, etc. In Washington the primary was especially hard, since we had to pick a party. I don’t have a lot of experience at that; my college years were spent at WSU. Sure, there were tons of parties—but I went to all of them.
When I vote, I take care of the easiest things first. In our local primary, I was disappointed to see there wasn’t a school levy. I could've voted “yes” without a second thought; providing a good education for children is one of my top priorities. Kids need every advantage so they can grow up and get high-paying jobs. Otherwise when I retire, they won’t be able to support Social Security.
Fortunately, our primary did have one no-brainer: a fire department levy. I’ve been a big supporter of the fire department ever since my daughter, Kelly, was in preschool. I chaperoned a field trip to the local firehouse, and some of the firefighters gave a talk about fire safety. I’ll never forget what I learned that day: firefighters are hunks! Having a fire is terrible, but at least if your house is burning down, it’s nice to know you’ll be rescued by a big, strong firehunk…I mean, firefighter. That’s why I voted “yes” on the fire department levy.
Of course, a lot of other decisions required more thought—and in November it'll be time to do it all again. But right now I can’t worry about that. Because I seem to remember promising to make my family a decent dinner.
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