Without intending to conduct a survey, or "poll," I sort of wandered into conversations with miscellaneous people I met through work and was astounded to discover that MANY working people do not vote.
Out of, say, 24 people I might ask, maybe 2 will say that they vote.
It was like a smack in the head. I am not over it yet.
I truly had no idea there were so many working people who do not vote.
I HAD NO I -DEA.
(What did I think, before? What was my belief? What was my assumption?
I ASSUMED PEOPLE VOTED !!!!!
I don't know.
I guess -- it's like -- why would you not?)
It's ingrained in my brain that in America, people are equal, we're lucky to be Americans, we're free, we have opportunities, and we all get to help select who will lead us.
Where did I get this? My parents? School? Yes. Probably. I don't know.
Two days ago a guy was leaving work and I asked him how to pronounce the name of the governor of West Virginia -- Manchin ("mansion"? "mank-in"? "man-chin"?, I had been wondering...)
"Mansion," was his answer.
Then I asked, automatically, without really intending to, what kind of governor he is -- "is he someone you would vote for?"
Bam! I shouldn't have asked.
"I don't vote," was his answer.
And without intending to, I started cajoling, lobbying, begging, reasoning, persuading -- trying to help him see Voting as I see it -- as -- well, Something You Do.
I didn't mean to do that -- start arguing with him, pushing him to vote.
(I mean to encourage, and be positive, but I very much fear that my enthusiasm may sometimes be interpreted by the other person as lecturing or badgering.)
Because a lot of energy comes out of me on this subject, and it's partly because I'm still astonished / amazed / in shock, to learn that a lot of the people who do the hard work don't vote.
They do the hard work, they make things go, and they do not "have the deal" to get gargantuan sums of money like our friends on Wall Street, etc., and the only place where the playing field is really level is voting.
George W. Bush has one vote.
I have one vote.
Caroline Kennedy has one vote.
Steven Spielberg has one vote.
The CEO of this company has one vote.
Each of the men who works on the loading dock has one vote.
Each manager has one vote.
Each welder and maintenance person has one vote.
Discovering that many of the working people, who do not have the financial wealth and the advantages of a "fast track" simply do not take advantage of their right to vote has left me puzzled and -- I don't know, it -- it blows my mind.
Partly because -- everybody I know who has financial security, and in some cases wealth, votes.
THOSE PEOPLE VOTE.
They believe that their opinions count.
They think they know how things should be, and they want to "weigh in," on Election Day.
It seems to me that every working person also counts, and their opinions and feelings should be taken into consideration when important decisions are made for America, but if they, by and large, remain separated from the process by not voting, then it's like -- well, it's like they don't count, because they're not being counted. Because they don't weigh in on Election Day.
When I ask people why they don't vote, they say,
"It doesn't make any difference."
"It's a waste of time; one person's vote doesn't matter."
"They're all crooks."
"There aren't any people like us in politics."
The hugeness of the "disconnect" is extraordinary.
And I feel sure it is not endemic to this particular workplace, or town, or state -- this is Working Class America, I think.
---------------------------------------------------
Yesterday morning I lay on my bed looking up at the ceiling, and I told myself I have to resist the impulse to try to talk people into voting, because I don't want to offend them -- make them feel like I'm yelling at them.
I resolved to apologize to the co-worker I had been "lobbying" the day before, when he was trying to leave & go home.
I thought, for (almost) three years in this job, I've been trying to just accept the fact that these people don't vote.
And then I thought -- OK, for three years have I actually been trying to accept the fact that they don't vote? Or have I been trying to figure out a way to --
MAKE THEM VOTE ?
Do I just -- Want My Way?
Later, at work, I apologized to the guy and offered a small peppermint pattie.
He said, "I wasn't bothered by it, at all."
With all the civility and politeness that the typical political commentators lack.
See -- that's just it -- the hardest-working, most decent, most honest people who face the Real World and handle their Real Responsibilities -- they're the ones who have removed themselves from the Process !! What's wrong with that picture??!!
I may have to buy more peppermint patties. ...
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