how to spend election day

Forget to tell students to remember to vote. Receive phone call from discourse-obsessed partner reminding you that there will be hours of radio and television to monitor this evening, and that Todd is coming over to listen and watch. Have disheartening discussions with left-wing colleagues about the future of the nation. Ignore Libertarians who hang out and table on bridge near workplace. Notice how many Kinky posters are up on co-workers' doors. Wonder if your precinct's polling station has moved since last year. Look forward to the walk over to the beautiful school. Think about all of the walks you took to cast your ballot over the years. Remember 2000 when you stayed up all night drinking white wine hoping that, for once, the person you voted for would win and how, when he lost, you yelled (rather dramatically [and perhaps a little drunkenly]) the word "NO!!" long and loud at the top of your lungs out the front door and into the wee hours of the Montrose morning. Shudder over all that's happened since then. See a W'04 sticker on an SUV on Allen Parkway and wonder if the driver feels stupid for having it. Consider that this might be what people think about your own SUV=WWIII sticker. Arrive home early to your partner who has realized that he is still registered to vote in the Heights. Give the key to the SUV=WWIII vehicle to partner so he can go vote. Find the mail amazingly free of political flyers or envelopes. Realize you haven't paid Green Mountain in two months. Wander over to the polling place, carefully avoiding those canvassing. Feel self conscious about how you walk. Open the door and see no one waiting in line. Recognize your neighbor, the old woman across the street, who checks your voter's registration card (secretly be pleased that you don't use your, um, driver's license). Remember that she didn't recognize you last year, either. Vote. Come home and snooze for about a half hour. Awaken to your partner cooking tacos. Pay attention to the voice that says you do not want another bean-filled meal. Cook spaghetti and a small salad. Enjoy it. Receive a phone call from your older sister, on her way home from voting in the hills of New Jersey. Discuss politics briefly before inquiring about your nieces and nephew. Laugh about your nephew's reticence, how he only points to communicate. Tell your sister how much you love her. Hang up and wait for the polls to come in. Pop a bottle of wine, as per tradition.