What A Difference A Year Makes

I went to the polls on Tuesday night to vote after work. I would have gone in the morning but, I was more concerned with navigating through heavy traffic and getting to work. We are currently in the midst of a transit strike here in the "City of Brotherly Love".

It is almost a year to the day that we elected Barack Obama President of the United States. Oh, how different the mood was this time last year. The lines were out both doors of the middle school where I go to vote, down the street, and around both corners. Hot coffee and donuts were being served by elderly black ladies, along with young energetic white students from a nearby university who had volunteered their time. There was a spark of magic and electricity in the air like history was in the making... and, it was! I felt a warmness... a feeling of family and oneness like I'd never felt before. Now, flash forward to two days ago...

There was no lines, only six people were ahead of me, no donuts, no coffee (it was seven o'clock at night), and not one white person in sight. This was an all black affair of the six people and I'm certain that I was the youngest one in the room... which is sad because I would've liked to have seen the young people I saw last year. I was in and out just like that and then, onward to the next thing... getting my car "winterized" and tires rotated the next day.

I could tell you more about that than who I voted for. Yeah, I could tell you that I helped elect this city's first African-American District Attorney and that somehow, that should have been a monumental event. But, 51% of this city's population is African-American and he won despite the fact that only about 30% of that demographic turned out to vote yesterday. I also voted for a couple of judges that I know absolutely nothing about, except what I saw in the commercials. Hopefully, I won't have to come before one of these judges but if I do and the name rings a bell, maybe I can whisper... "Hey, I voted for you, ya know." (wink-wink) and see how far that will get me.

I'll chalk up yesterday's low turnout to the fact that it was a pretty un-important election to most people's way of thinking... just a few judges and a D.A. I'm not going to get up on a soapbox this time but I'm going to say (as I'm sure I've said before) that it's the little things that one day will become big things. A judge or a D.A. might not seem important now but, if you're ever unlucky enough to come before one, it becomes a very important thing. A bad judge can be the difference between you reading this blog in a nice comfortable cyber cafe or you being sure not to drop the soap in a mass shower with Big Ed at the State Penn.

I might not have known who I was voting for yesterday but, at least I voted for somebody. And, if I have to ask one day... "Who put this clown on the bench?" I'll know that it was me. -:)