Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Fun on the 605 freeway

On Monday I got my official voter by mail ballot and filled it out the next day.  I thought long and hard about some of the propositions and measures, and ended up changing one of my votes at the last minute.  But I feel good about my decisions and have no regrets.  I made sure to make my circles nice and dark - no errors here!  I sealed up the envelope and was all set.  



Paranoid freak that I am, I decided to drive aaaaall the way to Norwalk in California to submit my ballot for the General Election.  Sure, I could have dropped it in the mail.  But what if the postman forgot to pick up the mail today, tomorrow, and Friday?  Or what if my ballot got "misplaced" or fell out of the little bag they wheel around?  Nope, on such an important issue as this, I needed to drive  32 miles (39 minutes or up to 1 hour, 50 minutes in traffic - thanks google maps!) to Norwalk.  Now prior to this little jaunt, there was no way I could put Norwalk on the map, but now I'm an expert.  I was in Baldwin Park, which is also off the beaten path, so I figured, why not make the trip?


But a funny thing happened on the way to the polls. 

There I was, minding my own business... listening to NPR and eating a sugar donut.  All was good in the world. I was about to do my civic duty and then some.  When out of nowhere, a guy in a red BMW honks at me. Whatever.  I continue with the donut.  Then he gets behind my car and starts tailgating me.  (The 605 is completely open, he's directly behind me for a reason.)  I'm thinking to myself, hmm.   I have an idea what he's doing, but I'm not 100% sure.   I can see his face in my rear view mirror.  Middle aged pale male.  Balding with one of those mustaches that was popular in 70s porn movies.   He then zips along side me.  This ought to be interesting, I think.  He honks his horn in quick succession and then emphatically gives me the thumbs down sign, pumping his fist up and down.  That confirms it.  This ladies and gents, is a Yes on Prop 8 voter.  Who thinks that the best way to engage in constructive dialogue is to give me a thumbs down.   Never mind freedom of speech - apparently I'm to be chastised for my views.

Well, two can play at that game.

He tries to speed ahead, but I step on the pedal to catch up to him, rolling the passenger side window  down. Multitask!  (I've already gulped down the donut, so I don't have to worry about that.)  *I* pull along side of him.  Hold up my pretty pink envelope that contains my No vote and wave it with a smile.  Then I jab my middle finger at him with relish, and slowly, deliberately mouth the words, "Fuck.  You."    Then I drove away laughing.  He got stuck behind a semi and I continued to make my way to the Norwalk County clerk office.  Pornstached bastard.

The line  for people looking to vote early at the County clerk office was ridiculous.  It ran the width of the building, then snaked around and doubled back.  Apparently, the wait was 1 to 1.5 hours.  I had to park at some other parking lot and run across the street because the County clerk office parking lot was completely full.  


Here's one side:



Here's the other side:

I located the box for dropping off ballots. With great flourish, I dropped it in.




Si se puede, indeed.  

3 comments:

Liz said...

LOVE IT!

!Si se puede!

weezermonkey said...

Obamanos!

Sarah said...

Holler for putting pornstached douche in his place!