Happy Election Day

Back in Philadelphia, my local polling place was a little church a short walk from my place.  Tiny grandmothers manned the ballots.  There was rarely a line, if any.  My walk home was along quiet residential streets sprinkled yellow with November ginkgo leaves.  For living in the heart of the city, the calm, unharried setting made voting a pleasant and reassuring experience.

But now I live here.  Let's just say that they don't do here what they do in Philly.  I stood in a line two blocks long four years ago.  But as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about today.  Why didn't anyone tell me that there's no line at 12:30 in the afternoon?!  I zoomed in, signed my name in the registry, scanned my ballot, and hopped next door to the pizzeria run by my former landlord and his family.

Vinny, the landlord's son, was amused when he discovered that my sister and I had managed to polish off five whole slices.  His pies, you see, are humongous.  One slice is usually enough for a girl.  We had a good chuckle as we got ready to roll ourselves back to the subway.  Then Vinny's father walked in.  Always ready to give us girls a hug, when he leaned in this time, I hesitated ever so slightly.  It had been a few years, but I remembered how strong he was.  He's probably pushing eighty, but I've seen him carry wooden bookcases twice his size down four flights of stairs.  He doesn't even break a sweat.  Sure enough, I think I tweaked my neck a bit when he pulled us in for today's squeeze.  Ha.  Vinny and his pops are good people.

Lunch in the old neighborhood.  UES.  NYC.
12:43 pm.   Today.

Over our delicious pizza lunch, I was telling my sister what a good life we have.  How privileged we are to have the right to play a part in our government's election.  How nice it is that we can take a safe subway ride a week after a major natural disaster hits our region.  How awesome it is that it's not a big deal to throw down twenty bucks for a hot piping pizza whenever we want.  How fortunate we are that both our jobs allow us the flexibility to step out midday to exercise our right to vote.  As women, as citizens, as humans, no matter how tough we might find things every now and again, on the whole, our standard of living is quite grand.  We are so very fortunate to be living this good life.