A Soapy Day

Warning... I found my soap-box today, and it is about to get some use!!!

A guy in my class this evening mentioned that he isn't going to vote. His reasoning? "Whatever. It doesn't matter if I vote, taxes will go up no matter". I just about crawled out of my skin. Mind you, I am not normally a terribly outspoken person, particularly to people that I don't know and have only spoken to as part of a large, passing conversation. He was standing in the front of the class next to the instructor talking about this and I- sitting in the second row back- looked at him and said "Did you just day you don't vote?" When he repeated his sentiments, I couldn't hold my tongue and said to him "Shame on you!" I felt a little like my grandmother.

I got to thinking this evening about just why it bothers me so much that people don't vote. To me, it is a HUGE privilege. I remember the first time I got to vote. I was super excited to know that I was taking part in something so big. I was excited because it was my first "grown-up" responsibility and I was on my way, baby!! I honestly, to this day, remember looking down at that huge list of registrants and waiting for them to find my name so that I could go into that little red, white, and blue curtained booth to cast my vote. It is a privilege that so many in the world do not have. It is something that people, even today, are fighting- and dying- for. It is a privilege that our forefathers fought for, that women before me fought for, that minorities fought for.

It means that I don't have to sit idly by and let one person decide what the world is going to look like for me. There are a lot of things going on in our country that I don't like. There are laws I don't agree with. There are people in power that I don't think should be. There are things going on that I think are just down-right stupid. You know what? I have the power to change things. Do I always see that power reflected? Maybe not. It may not seem like my one little vote makes a difference, but guess what? It does. I have had the privilege to take part in elections that have truly turned our "local" politics around, and I'm proud to say that I was a part of making that happen. I'm proud to say that I went out- in the 3 degree weather, in the dark, in the ice and snow, with a baby- to cast my vote, because it is such a privilege.

Voting is not a right, it's a privilege. It's not a requirement, a privilege. It is not something that I have to do. If I don't go to the polls, there won't be any thugs knocking down my door in the dead of night to make me vote. Lightening will not strike me dead. I won't be visited by plagues. Really, not one single thing will happen to me. But I vote anyway. Because I can. Because I realize that it is an honor to be able to vote- for our next President, for our representatives in Congress and the House, for our state and local representatives, for our laws and statues- for the very things that will shape the future of our country... the future of the world for my children. How could I not want to be a part of that?

Can someone pass me a ladder? I don't think I realized just how tall my soap-box was, and I'm having a bit of trouble climbing down!!