I have been in upstate NY since Saturday. Drove to Geneva to pick up two handguns from the Hessney Auction Company, then drove to my brother-in-law Hans' place. Been feeling like crap ever since I arrived there. I got out to do a bit of hunting on Sunday but not much because I was out of it. I even stayed at his place an extra day because I felt too sick to leave last night. I guess it was a virus of some sort, one I caught from my grandson before leaving on the trip. Once I got up today though, I knew I had to hit the road because I knew I had to vote. Drove to my hometown in about 4 hours and fifteen minutes but did not go right home once I arrived there. I went directly to my polling place to vote.
Once inside I was greeted by a nice gentleman at the entrance whe asked where I lived to get me to the right table. Then once at the table, a nice lady asked my last name and she told the woman next to her, a nice older lady asked I was in her book. She repeated my last name and said, there you are Brendan on line 4 (or maybe it was 6). She told me to sign next to my name on line 4 next to where it showed Brendan xxxxxx. I told her I was not Brendan and she looked perplexed so I told her I was on line 6 and I signed there. I also told her Brendan was not here in NY anymore because he had moved to AR and she and the woman next to her both asked how he liked it. I replied he loved it and both said that comes as no surprise and the older woman added that everyone who leaves seems to think likewise.
Then a third woman at the table and I had a bit of a lively discussion when she tried to get me to accept a slightly torn ballot which she said would only go into the voting machine one way (they are supposed to go in from either end) so I asked for a new one because it was defective. She said it was not damaged or defective. I told her I did not want there to be any chance for my ballot not to be counted, so please give me another because it was obviously defective. I did my best to remain respectful and calm but also remain firmly insistent.
Then she got furious after again claiming it was not damaged. To that I told her she had been the one who had just pointed out to me it was defective or damaged and she had told me it would not work as would other ballots. I asked for a supervisor, and another worker told her "just give him a new one". She took a bit of a hissy fit, slamming the ballot onto the table, grabbing a stamp of some sort (probably that said defective or cancelled or something to that effect) and slammed the stamp on the ballot even harder than she had slammed the ballot onto the table. The whole table shook. Then she handed me a ballot pushed the new ballot across the table that another poll worker had handed her and then threw her pen; I think she was going to throw it at me but it was clear she pulled back a bit just before letting it go and it hit the table and slid a ways across it toward me. Before leaving the table I said this as close as I can remember: 'what is wrong with you, you slammed the stamp on the ballot and threw your pen in a fit, but you are supposed to be helping people not acting like a bitch'.
Then I voted and as I voted some other woman started screaming at me: "What did you just call my mother"! I merely continued filling out those little circles on the ballot and then put the ballot into a machine that gobbled it up and then said my vote had been accepted.
After voting, I thanked the ladies at the table and they said their goodbyes to me and smiled (except maybe two of them). Then, as I walked out of the room, I said good night to the guy at the entrance and thanked him for being there to help out and he actually thanked me with a wide grin on his face. Maybe those smiles meant they are familiar with her nasty side and were happy I gave it right back to her - I'd like to think so. It is a shame that even voting can be such a pain in the ass but such is America today. Anyway, it was nice to see that everyone else who worked there was being respectful and courteous and quite the professionals.
I keep hoping though that when I wake up tomorrow we will continue on the road to recovery and the right will hold the House & gain in the Senate. I'd also like to hear that FUAC lost the governorship of NY but even I know that is likely hoping way too much.
All the best,
Glenn B
