Well, actually he voted for Theodore Roosevelt, but after I explained that teddy bears were named after Roosevelt, he prefers to think that he voted for a teddy bear, and who am I to stop him?
I walked to the polling place with both kids, and Superstation sat in the stroller (being smiled at by every person entering the room, pretty much), and Mooselet stayed with me. He got to vote on a practice ballot used for people unfamiliar with the voting equipment used there. He kept asking me who I was voting for while I made my selections, but he kept his voice down pretty low.
As I was on the last page (5) of my ballot, about to finish, he said, "You know what, Daddy?"
"What, bud?"
"I love you."
"Oh, thank you, pal." And I punch the last little selection on my card. At this time, a lady who had just stepped up to the booth next to mine turned to me and said, "You know, it's really hard to vote with him talking like that." Oh, the things that went through my mind at that point. I held my tongue, and simply walked away, but it really bugged me.
1) Yeah, I'm gonna get upset at Mooselet for saying he loves me. 2) Heaven forbid that my son see that I believe voting is important. 3) I probably should have left him (and Superstation) at home alone while I voted, right? 4) She had her sample ballot, so she probably already made her selections, and the machines we use just aren't that difficult. 5) If a quiet voice (quieter, in fact, than the voices of the poll workers giving instructions to other people) is enough to disturb her concentration to the degree that she might make a mistake in her voting, a) I'm not sure I'm comfortable with her being able to vote, and b) I can think of another state where she might feel more at home. [/snark]
It's a good thing I wasn't playing Monopoly at the time.
--Pop
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
She's just jealous that he loves you.
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
You know, it's really distracting to try and work while you are discussing your incredibly cute offspring.
Just sayin.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
When I read: "At this time, a lady who had just stepped up to the booth next to mine turned to me and said, 'You know, it's really hard to vote with him talking like that.' " I thought "Gee lady, did you even try?"
I think it's awesome that you brought your boys with you to vote. I think it is important that Mooselet gets to see you voting and that you let him be involved with you. Poo on the stupid lady. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
"I'm sorry ma'am. Perhaps you don't realize that there are people talking throughout this room, most of them louder than my son."
Or
"There are many excellent pharmaceutical products on the market to assist you with your inadequate ability to pay attention to the task at hand."
Dagonee
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
I believe that in most (if not all) states' voters' bill of rights, you have the explicit right to bring a minor child into the voting booth with you.
I'm just sayin'.
Witch.
Good grief, some people. He was learning how to vote. Deal with it.
[ November 02, 2004, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Dag, you are wonderful!
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
Aye, witch. I was attending the polls with my mother when I was Mooselet's age. She even let me push the button once (machine voting) and I let out such a squeel of glee that she had to cover my mouth.
She's just upset that she can't vote for a teddy bear too.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I think I would have simply said. "Ma'amI'm trying to teach my child that voting is an important civic responsibility. I'm sorry if it offends you." I remember my mother actually taking me in to the voting booth with her when I was five or six and letting me punch the hole after she lined it up. I felt so important!
AJ
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
Pop, you have some freaking adorable kids.
[Edit: Oh, and I think you handled the situation pretty much the best you could have. No big scene and now we all have the opportunity to make fun of that woman. Right on!]
[ November 02, 2004, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: saxon75 ]
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Say the truth--
I'm sorry ma'am.
And you are--for her.
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
I denounce her a trollop, a woman of loose morals, and a reeky fat-kidneyed baggage being utterly infirm of purpose.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
So....Papa.....you gonna post in the Hatrack Exit Poll thread?
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
quote:I denounce her a trollop, a woman of loose morals, and a reeky fat-kidneyed baggage being utterly infirm of purpose.
that was just so random, it was great
[ November 02, 2004, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: MaydayDesiax ]
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
Sara Sasse: How do you know she is a witch?
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
Because witches hate children, unless they can eat them. Duh. Haven't you ever seen Hocus Pocus? Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :
I think you did a great thing for your country today Papa Moose. And an even greater thing for your family.
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
quote:Sara Sasse: How do you know she is a witch?
Wait, I know this one: because she weighs the same as a duck?
Actually, I have special insights.
And the extent of my nausea hath caused to come upon me a fit of the vapours, making me cranky. She maketh a most suitable target for my bilious outpourings.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Glaphyra if you wanted to prove your righteousness you probably should have held out for member number 7000... closer to perfection after all. AJ
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
In a fake whisper to Mooselet, "It's okay buddy she's just nervous about voting"
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Farmgirl -- no. I despise exit polling.
Actually, option 6 was "Bite me." But I was trying to keep the list clean. And if I were gonna be really honest, "bite me" was actually probably option 1, in that it was the first thing that came to mind. And "sorry" was probably #2. The options I gave above were after I'd cooled down a bit. Thanks for your support, folks.
--Pop
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
AnnaJo, I have a decided preference for this number.
Thou saucy shard-borne scut! Everybody knows of my 95 theses about 69.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
No, let's hear more about them.
[ November 02, 2004, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: TheTick ]
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
Vile den of iniquity, degenerate and base art thou.
Read my works and repent of your wicked, wicked ways.
Posted by MaydayDesiax (Member # 5012) on :
::giggles:: And thus begins the derailing of the thread.
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
Formally, it is known as The Sixty-Nine Ninety-Five.
Subtitled, Licentious Cad, I am Coming For You. Available at your local (adult) bookstore.
Thou frothy hell-hated lewdster! Would the fountain of your mind were clear again, that I might water an ass at it.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
My mind's fountain is very clear. Empty, in fact, to hear my wife tell it. Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
Mooselet has learned early that there are sometimes impediments to the voting process, but we forge ahead. 'Tis not the strife and noise that matters, but the action itself.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
LICENTIOUS! That is the best word
Posted by Glaphyra the Righteous (Member # 6995) on :
I like "cad," too. 'Tis useful and sprightly.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Some people live to bitch about things, or have moods in which they live to bitch about things. I'm sure she was delighted, on some level, to have something to feel irritated about. When I see someone like this, if I'm able to muster the perspective to remember this I just grin widely and tell them that I hope their day gets better. All too often, though, "bite me" is the first response that leaps to mind for me too.
I have to say, though, I love Dag's second option.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
PM, Here is another way to look at it:
The woman said it was hard to vote "with him talking like that." What she obviously meant was that his talking was so darned cute that it threw her off. She would rather hear him talk than vote, even though it is the most precious thing in her whole life. She just wanted you to know that, that's all.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
If that's what she meant, she needs lessons in "tone and body language."
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
"Que? Non...hablo...Engles..."
-Trevor
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
I bet she was voting for Bush.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Hey, Pop,
I actually voted with a kid on one arm myself. She actually voted on a proposition for me, trying to be helpful. Fortunately, her opinion jibed with mine, so I let her vote stand.
I voted at the Western region little-league headquarters. Believe me, that place was anything but quiet. Time before that I voted in somebody's garage.
Are some polling places really quiet or something?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
This year I happened to vote without kids in tow. But most years, I bring three kids along with me -- and one year, I had my three and the two kids we were carpooling with. But in that polling place, which serves an area densely populated by Orthodox Jews, this is not all that unusual.
The polling place is a school auditorium, and there are rows of seats. So the kids usually wait there. But often the smallest came with me. I actually was kind of sad that this year (and last year, as it happens) I voted when the kids were in school. I think it's great for kids to see that their parents value voting, and consider it important.
One of the reasons why I feel so strongly that voting is a duty and responsibility is because I saw (still do, actually) that it was important to my parents.
Pop, I'm glad you handled the woman with grace and aplomb -- but for your sake, and Mooselet's. Heaven knows she didn't deserve it!
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
I think it's great you took Mooselet along with you Pop.
I quite liked response number 5, myself.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
PM, I meant that you should just pretend she meant it, and also that she has some sort of tic which makes her appear to be all witchy when she is really a warm and sensitive woman.
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Dag, you are wonderful!
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