The long march home (Part One)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
My absentee ballot never came. I applied for it perhaps a bit too late, or maybe it got lost in the mail, I'll never know. By this past weekend it became abundantly clear the ballot was never going to get to me in time. I felt guilty about the prospect of not voting so after my 6:30-9 p.m. class Monday night I decided to drive home.
I live in Pennsylvania - a five hour commute from Amherst. Some people might consider this move drastic, some felt it necessary. My mom thought I was crazy, but we do have a voting date tomorrow so she's content. For all intensive purposes my reasoning was more of a desire not to sit around my apartment until my 4 p.m. class agonizing over not voting in my first presidential election.
So here I am in my parents basement, the ultimate bloggers haven.
Highlights from a pretty uneventful journey home:
-I made it with out coffee or rest stops. Tomorrow I don't think I will be able to say the same.
-Driving at night took an extra half hour off my commute time.
-I toured the scenic cities of Springfield and Hartford on 84 West instead of the Berkshires on the Mass Pike (and the NY Thruway). There were a lot of trucks on the side of the road. It was weird.
-The truck in front of me on 31 South in New Jersey hit a deer. The deer stumbled and fell to its death right in my line of vision. Very disturbing.
It's 2 a.m. I have to sleep now despite what the managing editor thinks. I have to vote at about 9 a.m. so I can make it back to Amherst in time for my class (and a quick nap).
We do some crazy things for democracy.
Goodnight,
Melissa
I live in Pennsylvania - a five hour commute from Amherst. Some people might consider this move drastic, some felt it necessary. My mom thought I was crazy, but we do have a voting date tomorrow so she's content. For all intensive purposes my reasoning was more of a desire not to sit around my apartment until my 4 p.m. class agonizing over not voting in my first presidential election.
So here I am in my parents basement, the ultimate bloggers haven.
Highlights from a pretty uneventful journey home:
-I made it with out coffee or rest stops. Tomorrow I don't think I will be able to say the same.
-Driving at night took an extra half hour off my commute time.
-I toured the scenic cities of Springfield and Hartford on 84 West instead of the Berkshires on the Mass Pike (and the NY Thruway). There were a lot of trucks on the side of the road. It was weird.
-The truck in front of me on 31 South in New Jersey hit a deer. The deer stumbled and fell to its death right in my line of vision. Very disturbing.
It's 2 a.m. I have to sleep now despite what the managing editor thinks. I have to vote at about 9 a.m. so I can make it back to Amherst in time for my class (and a quick nap).
We do some crazy things for democracy.
Goodnight,
Melissa
Labels: absentee ballots, election day, pennsylvania, voting, vw bugs