Parking was tight and the line ran out the door. I’ve been voting here for 11 years and had never seen a line like this. As I waited, I looked around me and listened in on conversations. I looked around at my fellow voters. “Who are you voting for?” I wondered. I found myself hoping, wishing. I looked at clothing, facial expressions, anything, trying to glean the intent of each voter. Who were all these people? What vision did they hold for our country?
The line moved forward slowly. Occasionally, I chatted with the people around me. We talked about the line, the weather, the temperature in the room. For a few minutes, we discussed the new rank choice voting system and how that worked. We slid in and out of inconsequential conversations.
“I wonder if those are for people who forgot their reading glasses,” the woman in front of me commented, gesturing to the “check in” table. On the corner by the ballots were a couple of pairs of glasses.
“I hope so,” she continued, “because I forgot mine.”
As we watched, a recent voter submitted their ballot, then walked over and set a pair of glasses back on the table before exiting.
“Oh, they are,” she said, clearly relieved.
Something about those glasses spoke to me. I wondered if having reading glasses available was routine at polling places, but suspected it was a small town gesture. They were a touch of humanity that cut through the tension of this day, of this moment. I’d joked several times recently that my ballot would sizzle when I submitted it, as I am desperately concerned about the current state of our political system. But those glasses…
Two pairs of glasses just sitting on a counter. Ready and willing to help anyone. No matter who they were voting for. No matter what vision they had for the country. Addressing a common frailty. They cut through all of the vitriol and turmoil to connect us. Behind them was a person who saw a need and addressed it, calmly and quietly. Without fanfare.
I’m not sure what will happen with this election, but I do know that I’ll think about those glasses again. I’ll remember them–two pairs of glasses sitting there, on the edge of the table, available to anyone who might need them.
I’m thankful for those glasses.
Nix the comfort zone 
Lovely. This paragraph really spoke to me, “Two pairs of glasses just sitting on a counter. Ready and willing to help anyone. No matter who they were voting for. No matter what vision they had for the country. Addressing a common frailty. They cut through all of the vitriol and turmoil to connect us. Behind them was a person who saw a need and addressed it, calmly and quietly. Without fanfare.” Though I vote by mail (hello, expat), this image is one of the ones I want to hold for our country. I hope that others see things the way I do, but I am grateful to those who provide glasses so that we can all see.
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Those glasses were an important reminder to me last night. Even now, I’ve avoided turning on the radio,part of my normal morning routine. I’m not ready to hear the news. I’m going to keep focusing on the glasses for a bit longer.
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I liked that about the glasses, thank you for sharing. When are the results?
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Thank you. Most of the results are in now, though there are a few races that are too close to call.
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I like to think the glasses were a kind gesture and maybe a return to civility, something we seem to have lost. Your prose puts it into something seemingly tangible and attainable. Thank you Molly
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Crossing my fingers that civility is still attainable! Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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I love how you noticed the glasses and the significance in these all too inhumane times, that we are human. My husband is a lawyer who does property law and he leaves a stash of glasses and pens in the center of his conference table. I never thought of it in this way before.
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Such a small gesture on someone’s part, but it did really stick with me–especially in the current climate. Thanks, Margaret.
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A symbol of civility in an uncivil world…..but hope!
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“Hope is the thing with feathers-
that perches in the soul-“
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Ahh that was a sweet gesture from your polling place to provide those for the people. It always makes my day when I see the small kindnesses being given. It’s even more meaningful when it is in a place where things could very easily be divided. Non-Partisan glasses
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Thanks! Those small kindnesses do add up, don’t they? I’m hoping to become more attuned to noticing them and also to contribute more of them to the mix.
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