What I saw on Election Day...YIKES!

As a high school student, I worked at the polls on this year's Presidential Election Day. I got to experience first-hand how to deal with people and got the chance to see how people REALLY function and work when faced with making a major, nationwide decision. However, even though I got an opportunity to watch politics and how they tend to effect the public on a first-hand basis, I would say that not everyone is the sharpest crayon in the box. I think you know what I mean...

Some things that I happened to view on Election Day this year included just watching people in general. As I handed out ballots and took down names, and even explained to people HOW to fill out the ballots properly, I realized not everyone listens. Most of the time, the adults are the ones blaming the kids for not listening...however, we aren't the only ones! I cannot tell you, the reader, how many times I had people not understanding how to mark a straight line on the ballot indicating their choice. It was so frustrating. People don't listen most of the time.

Another thing that bothered me on Election Day is that people are often too impatient too quickly. They don't stop to think that everyone is voting, and not just them. Or, yes I know that the polls stay open until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., however, at the polling place I was working at, one man came in at two minutes til. TWO MINUTES! We basically had everything pretty much packed and ready to go, and then he sits there and takes about 15 MORE minutes to actually mark his votes on the ballot. That was frustrating.

Something else that I observed while working at the polls was that people don't speak up when they're talking or then they mess up on their paper ballot and then decide that they need a new one-about 3 times! Really? I had some people come up three times after they messed up and drew a thick line or circled it or whatever, exactly doing the opposite of what we had JUST explained to them. Or how about when they didn't even know who or what they were voting for. One girl asked me, "Wait, who's the black man running for President again?" SERIOUSLY?! Do you live in a cave?

The cool thing about working at the polls on the Presidential Election Day were wacthing people get excited when I would hand them an "I voted" sticker. By the way, thanks to Starbucks Coffee Company, we had some happy people find out a free cup of coffee was theirs if they walked into Starbucks, proudly wearing that little blue sticker. That was fun being able to make people smile in that way.

All in all, I was frustrated throughout different parts of the day, talking or at least trying to talk to people. However, it seemed to pay off in the end-literally. I made $125.00 working from 6 a.m. which in my opinion is way too early, until we closed at 8 p.m. or so that night. It was a long day, but watching historical events in face to face way is super cool. I also discovered that politics can be more interesting than you may think.