The Gearharts

Today was a beautiful day, 70 degrees outside with a light breeze, just perfect. Even perfect for standing in line for an hour and a half to cast my vote. I had a busy morning with an early Dr's appointment and Sams Club trip, and knew if I stayed home for a while in between errands and voting I wouldn't go, so I unloaded the car, fed the baby and off I went. I was a bit discouraged to stand in line, but knew I needed to do it, especially for the protection of marriage amendment they are trying to pass. So I unloaded my stroller and packed up Rainier, and in line I stood. I had the misfortune of have a last name that landed between A and L, and at out polls, for some reason barely anyone with a last name starting with M through Z was voting. So as I stood there, and stood there, time and time again people with some lucky last name like Smith would be able to pass me by and go right in and vote.

As I was standing in line I was making small talk with a lady behind me, she was of some Arabic decent, dressed in a long dress, with an ornate scarf around her head. She was a little hard to understand but we talked about the baby, her children, etc. I could tell she was a little nervous about voting but didn't talk to her about it. Ten minutes later we were still standing as once again a handful of the blasted M through Z's went right through, and then my sister Debbie called and talked me through another 35 minutes of the wait. I heard the lady behind me talking in her native tongue on the phone and again smiling to the baby and me. Soon we got closer but not close enough for the M through Z's to pass us quicker than before, and people in the A through L line were getting anxious and upset, they were asking why they end of the alphabet got to speed through and why us, the unfortunate A through L's had to wait 100 times longer. There was no real answer from the poll workers but the anxious feeling was rubbing off on all of us beginning letters. As I was fighting back my anger, I stopped for a minute, and looked at the beauty of the situation; how we, as Americans, are so fortunate to be able to vote. That calmed my nerves a bit and I again felt at ease at being passed up time and time again by those with the lucky lettering. I felt I could sacrifice my time to have my vote heard.

As we finally closed in on the actual polls the Arabic woman behind me told me she may need some help and was wondering if I would helping her. I was a bit anxious but agreed. I went to my election box and thought she would follow beside me but she didn't. So I filled out my ballot, and was ready to leave when I saw her sitting over at a table, she looked up at me and I asked her if she was okay, she said no and asked for help. She had the ballot turned to the proposition side and said to me that the only reason she had come was to vote against gay marriage and asked me if I could please tell her which box to fill to make sure that amendment would pass. I showed her the box to check and she again asked me what else to vote for....I tried to explain the props and their meaning and she would ask me again what to vote for. I guess I did do most of her voting, but I was inspired by her. I was inspired that she would come to an unknown situation that clearly made her nervous and that was something she didn't even really understand to cast a vote for something she and her family felt was important... marriage. It made me think of the beauty of people, of the beauty of the world, but most of all of the beauty of America and its democracy.