i voted; so, where's my sticker?

People all over the country waited in line for two hours --- I must have had the least controversial voting experience today. A lot of journalists who vote do so with absentee ballots because they have to work on election day. Not I. I love the anticipation of waiting in line and sitting, or standing, at the booth.

So, about noon I headed out to the local public utility district building with a magazine prepared to wait something like two hours. I breezed right in, they gave me a ticket indicating my precinct and gave me my ballot. I found a comfortable seat and voted. There were about six booths, but several people, including me, just sat at a boothless folding table and filled out the form. The atmosphere was casual, like we were all filling out applications to work at Dairy Queen, instead of fueling the engine of our democracy.

The most controversial thing about the day may have been when the voting lady took my ballot, and tipped it into a metal ballot box. "You'll know we have it when you hear the 'clunk,' as it hits the bottom," she announced. We never heard the clunk. Hm.