My morning out voting

Voting day!

So this morning dawned bright, warm, and sunny. Temperatures are a pleasant upper 60s already and after my morning ablutions and coffee, I left for Danielsville and the County polling station. I was worried about the lines and the waiting, so I brought my book with me and a thermos of coffee, anticipating standing outside in line for quite a while. However, the only other person preceding me into the polls was a young woman carrying a portable car-seat with tiny baby inside. She slowed the works only because all the old ladies who staff the polling station each wanted to coo and cluck over the baby. And they all asked the same questions even though they were sitting next to each other and heard all the answers already. Folks do love a cute little baby!

The polls were all electronic, touch screen machines so I got my card and slid it into the slot . I voted straight GOP, wanting very much for the House and Senate to retain a semblance of a two-party system. I was not enthralled about Sen. McCain until he chose Gov. Palin. Then I was all for the GOP ticket.

Next stop was the Payroll office at the Board of Education to get a question or two answered,, and as I was exiting later I looked up at the Chicken Express sign and saw "Now serving fried pickles." I said it before...

fried apple pie
fried pork skins
fried hot dogs
fried oreos

...and I'll say it again, the good folks down south will fry anything.

At the Post Office to buy a stamp for mailing my utility bill, I ran into a wonderful elderly man I'd interviewed two years ago. He is well into his 90s, but still spry. He did not remember me though, but we exchanged pleasantries at the door as I held it open for him. He turned and said, "I have on my Sarah Palin coat today," gesturing to the embroidered mountains and 'Seward Alaska' on the jacket's chest. "That all right with you?" He said with a twinkle in his eye but a challenge in his voice. "I said "Awesome! I'm all for it, nice coat!" He laughed all the way to the stamp window.

I have a bad cough and sinus cold, part and parcel of what you get when you work day in and day out with children, so after voting, the payroll office and the Post Office I went to the Dollar Store and stocked up on the essentials: Mucinex, Robitussin, and NyQuil, the real stuff, not generic. That'll knock the cold on its heels, ha! However, at the checkout, after uneventful scanning of my canned salmon and kitty litter, the clerk passed the Robitussin through the scanner and turned to me, asking "Birthdate?"

"Excuse me?"
"Your birth date, month-day-year, please," pointing to the blinking computer XX-XX-XXXX waiting to be filled in.
"I'm not sure why you are asking me this."
"The medicine."
"How old do you have to be to buy it?"
"Over eighteen."
"I am over eighteen."
"I have to put in the exact birth date."

I stared at the screen, mentally deciding whether to forgo the meds and buy them somewhere else or to cave and give the info. The meds were over the counter purchase, not sequestered like cigarettes are. If they wanted to protect minors from buying them, then put them behind the counter like cigarettes are. As I was mulling,

The clerk said "Forget it, I'll plug mine in."
I turned to the lady behind me and asked, "Where will it end?"
She said, loudly, "I'm 60. I'm proud to say how old I am!"
"It just that no matter where you go there are increasingly intrusive requests for personal information."
She said, "Those poor kids buying the cough medicines..."

I could see the cause for personal responsibility and privacy of information was lost, to this crowd at least...my next thought was that soon enough her easy compliance will likely land her in an Obamanation concentration camp/ holding cell or shot at by his Civilian Security Force. I had already gotten cash to pay because of the new rule that all credit card purchases are to be tracked by the IRS...and now this new thing. Oh well...such are the times and I do what I can to resist government intrusion into my wallet, home, and life!

Back home and unpacked, another steaming cuppa in my hand and the windows thrown open to enjoy the fresh air, I relaxed into my antique banker's chair and pondered the one unassailable truth: God is in control. "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness. And light dwells with Him." Daniel 2:20-22

Pray, vote, and in every situation, whether turbulent or peaceful, remember it is a situation where we can lead people to Jesus.

Have a good day!