First, though, I intended to stop in and do my voting duties. Today was local election day. In I went and found the right desk for my district. First thing they asked was my name and then they asked for my identification card. Instantly, I bristled. "Oh, this is ridiculous," I blurted out. Instantly, the four ladies sitting at the table tensed up and didn't quite know what to say. Another woman sitting towards the back of the four said, "It's to keep it honest." To which I replied, "Yeh, right." I shuffled around in purse looking for my driver's license while they shuffled around in their books trying to figure out how to spell Hudgins and, of course, they didn't have it right. Once they saw my driver's license they saw how to spell my name correctly. I guess the identification did have its purposes. But I was boiling inside. I seem to have become rather evangelistic when it comes to politics and being against anything the Bush administration has come up with. I almost retorted to them that the identification bullshit was only thought up by the damn Republicans to try to keep the poorer people, and the blacks who tend to be anti-Republican, that couldn't afford to drive a car or to pay for an ID from coming to vote but I bit my tongue. A very sour feeling went through my whole body as I went over to vote.

I knew definitely who to vote for in the judge's race. Dan G., our former Butler County Democrat party leader, had resigned from being the chair to run for judge. A vote for him was clear cut. But I found out that I wasn't prepared about who to vote for when it came to the city council. There wasn't a Republican or Democrat designation beside any of their names. That pissed me off. I had no idea who to vote for. I probably shouldn't have voted for any of them but I touched the screen a few times. It was a short ballot and I was done quickly.

I mention this only because of the tightness I felt in my body when I got back to my car and sat down. My chest felt constricted and my head felt tense. Welcome to the new era of voting, I thought. Where you felt like your vote didn't count before but now you knew it didn't. Or something like that. I have absolutely no faith that the voting machines are going to reflect correctly who is really going to win the next presidential eclection. JUST LIKE THE LAST TWO!!! I felt angry. And I felt like what's the use in going to vote at all. If they can get away with passing stupid requirements like having to have a photo ID now, then they can get away with anything they want. And they have in the last two big elections. I went onto the store with another niche on my psyche about how the whole fabric of our society has been eaten away by the greedy, hungry Rethuglican moths.

Overall, my experience at the store was fun and peppy and helped to override that gloominess I had come in with. I use an electric cart now to ride around the store. My knees can't take the standing and walking around for two hours anymore. I was getting so crippled up after a store visit that I could barely walk around the house later on. The carts at Meijer were pretty old and would always run out of steam after an hour of usage so I got into the habit of turning off the motor every time I stopped to peruse the shelves. That helped quite a lot. I wondered how many other people had ever thought of doing that. I figured it probably wasn't too many. Last year Meijer finally bought a bunch of new carts and they can last all day without running down. They are also nicer to sit on and don't cramp my legs like the old ones. The old ones are still around but I avoid using them. Today I decided to pass along my helpful hint to all the other riders in the carts, whether they were using a new or old cart. Boldly but nicely, I ventured to educate a few people who were riding the carts and they seemed appreciative to know about turning them off. And, no, they hadn't thought of that.

Then this one lady came zipping around the aisle while I was in the liquor department getting distilled water. She stopped and said something to me. Then I proceeded to tell her my tip and she answered gaily, "I don't care." Oh, okay. The way she said it made me think that she didn't care about the people using it next, she just cared about her use of it and getting her shopping done. But my tip was mainly for her individual use but in the long run it was for the people that came next. I was a bit taken aback and the thought swiftly crossed my mind that that was what was wrong with America and then just as swiftly left. But the alacrity in her answer stuck with me. And the selfish sounding tone to it. I decided not to educate any more people that day, if ever.

I left the store and as I was starting to put groceries in the trunk of my car one of the mentally challenged workers in the store came out to get the cart. They like to get those carts right back in the store they're not left in the elements or stolen. He helped me with some of the sacks and saw the bumper sticker on my car which says, "Free America, fire the Republicans!" It was hard to understand him but he began railing against the Democrats. I distinctly heard, "I hate Democrats." Guess he didn't deduce that he was saying that to one of them. But I took it in stride and gave him a few pointers to think about and especially about how the Canadian now is better than the U.S. dollar. That right there tells you about how bad our presence in the world is. He shrugged at that and took the cart back in.