wait for it

November 4, 2020

Today, I joined the noonday silent vigil downtown. 


For half an hour, we gathered: young adults, retired folks, teenagers, whole families, children. Spread out along the sidewalk around the courthouse, some people held signs and others just stood quietly, watching the cars pass. 







A few drivers honked and waved, but most just ignored us. There was no heckling. Other days, I’ve been told, some people have pulled over to talk. Sometimes they push to find out which candidate people in the group have voted for, but we don’t talk about that. This group — Hold the Line — is nonpartisan. It’s about respecting the democratic process. It’s about counting all votes (in case you didn’t catch that from the signs, ha). 

























Yesterday when I was taking my turn at monitoring the ballot box, I had to keep telling people to wait while the machine processed their vote. The light has to switch to green so we know it’s been counted, I’d say. Married couples were the worst since they’d approach the box together and try to slip in their ballots in quick succession. Then I’d have to yell No no no! and explain the process yet again.  

All the explaining felt cumbersome, and awkward. Standing there, whiling away the minutes (900 of them, to be exact), I racked my brains, trying to think of a better, more concise way —

And then I recalled the video clip a friend had sent me the night before.


From then on, a gentle “Wait for it” was all I needed to get their attention and make them pause. 
The process matters, people.



Wait for it. 

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (11.4.19), the quotidian (11.5.18), meatloaf, musings from the coffee shop, the quotidian (11.4.13), bierocks, piano lessons.

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One Comment

  • Jenny

    November 5, 2020 at 2:00 am Reply

    My family was pretty sure we would not know who won the presidential election by today….I think it might be weeks. I haven't even looked at the numbers yet because I know it will just take time.
    We are happy with how the house & senate came through.

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