A 15-Hour Day And Where Was Megan Fox?
Pardon me, but I’m a bit groggy.
I just completed a 15-hour day working at a voting precinct during the California primary for governor.
Yes, a 15-hour day. With only one brief 15-minute break.
The day did not start well. I arrived a little before 6 a.m., and the supervisor was already on site setting up the voting booths and the room. But the other two workers were no-shows. We opened the polls with just the two of us.
I was given the authority to call in help and, thankfully, Dion Trujilio – he of Fish On Tap sushi catering – came to the rescue early in the afternoon. Frankly, the work is almost mindlessly easy, but you need a few hands on deck to make things run smoothly.
So was it as bad as I had feared when I wrote this post prior to doing my civic duty?
In many ways, it wasn’t too bad. I’m very much a people person and there were certainly a lot of people with whom to interact. I saw several friends, who were initially surprised to see me, but then we quickly engaged in friendly conversations.
I was tempted to make little harmless jokes about people’s names as I so often do in that very friendly manner of mine. You know, saying something related to a beer mug for a girl named Stein, grape juice to a Welsh, John Phillips – or phone – to a guy named Souza. That kind of thing.
But of course, you can’t, for fear of alienating someone. And polling places are supposed to be for serious things, like electing the state’s next governor or deciding a key issue.
I noticed Megan Fox was on the roster and while I’m not sure if it was THAT Megan Fox (she was a no-show) it did provide for an interesting “hmmm” thought for a single poll worker in a town of good-looking girls.
We were given a roster of names and addresses, which means we had access to where the good-looking girls who have registered to vote live. Not only that, but one of the rosters also included their phone number. SO…. well you don’t take that information home with you, of course, but it certainly gave me something to think about while I was sitting there for 15 consecutive hours.
Not knowing exactly what to expect, I had prepared for the day the way a sailor does before going sailing. I packed two sandwiches, a box of crackers, a gallon of iced tea (I drink a lot of iced tea during the day) and ice.
Overall, the day went fine. I was able to do some PubClub.com work and even took part in a couple of social media chats. I can’t exactly say the time flew by but it went fairly quickly considering the length of it.
We had about 300 voters come through, which in a 13-hour voting period may seem like water dripping through a coffee maker, but they came in waves and if you’re not on your toes you could easily wind up feeling like a squid on a surfboard who is suddenly facing a six-foot swell.
Here are my overall observations of the California voting process:
• The system is absurdly primitive and is in need of a major technological upgrade.
• The two-hour training class is a waste of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Getting paid $140 ($100 for the day, $40 for the training class) is completely inadequate.
• Requiring workers to put in a 15-hour day is beyond unreasonable.
• Most voters are friendly but some are surly. When one cranky voter’s card successfully went through the machine after a day of about 60% of voters having to do provisional voting because the rosters were so out of whack and I said “it’s great when things go smoothy,” she snarled at me and snapped “shut up!” People need to come to the polls with a better attitude; if you’re in a crappy mood, this no doubt affects the way you vote.
Cheers!
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