I was trying to explain to a twenty-something what a voting machine was. I was greeted with a polite blank stare.

 

I registered to vote in 1973. The first presidential candidate I voted for was Gerald Ford in 1976. I figured that he hadn't done much, but he hadn't treated us like Nixon did, either.

As I said before, I was telling a co worker about using a voting machine to cast a vote. How you went to the polls, checked in with the poll workers, were escorted to the machine, walked in and pulled a big lever to set the machine and close the privacy curtain. After that it was time to click the small levers down to make your selections, then pull the big lever back to register your vote and reopen the curtain. You had cast your ballot.

I like the convenience of mail in voting, but there was something to be said about using the voting machine. The physicality of pulling that big lever, clicking those little ones with authority, and then pulling that big lever back to put a final stamp on the whole thing. It's just not the same using a black pen to fill in a little box.

At least I know now why my first grade teacher Mrs. Lapierre said it was so important to color in the lines.

DO NOT forget to vote!

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