Please Let Me NOT Vote For Bush!

I still have not received my absentee ballot *pout* so I got to the U.S. Consulate in Martin Place this morning at 8.05am (they open at 8am). There was already quite a line and they can only check out one person at a time. So one person goes up there, shows the dude behind the counter ID and then they x-ray all your stuff, ask you to take off your shoes, you walk through the machine, then they go through your bags, etc. All understandable, just a bit slow. I actually got inside around 9.10am. So I got my absentee ballot form and they were like, 'If you fill it out right now, we'll mail it for you" so that sounded good to me!

So I sat down to fill it out and this guy who was about 80 comes over to the seating area and tells his daughter, "I'm going to sit next to this beautiful woman over here!" And then he sat down next to me! Ha! He was so cute.

So we were chatting. He's from Texas and has lived in Oz for 60 years, right after the war. He asked why I was there and I said to vote and he was like, "You know what? It's really embarassing but I've never actually voted in a U.S. election!" I asked him if he knew who he would vote for and he said "Prolly that guy that's already in." and I smiled and said, "Welp, I'm definitely not voting for HIM!" and he was like, "Well, why not, young lady? He's from Texas!" And I was like, "Welp, him being from Texas is about his only redeeming quality and that's only because you're from there!" and he laughed. He was like, "I definitely would not have voted for Howard (dumbass Bush-loving Aussie Prime Minister who was just re-elected, meh) though!" and I said, "Me neither!" and the man was like, "I can't stand that guy!" and I said, "Same here!" We bonded. :-D

The stuff I overheard being said to people in line at the various American citizen counters, ohmygod, hilarious. This female U..S. Con.sulate employee with a southern accent was working the counter next to mine and she was helping Americans who needed to get various bits and pieces of paperwork done and there was a dad with his son and his daughter and the woman was like, "Sir, please raise your right hand, do you solemnly swear that this boy next to you is really your son and that he is not just some boy you met on the street earlier today?" HAHAHA! The whole room started laughing! It was just so absurd!

And then there was this poor mother with her newborn baby strapped to her front plus all these heavy bags and the same southern woman behind the counter was asking her all sorts of questions - like where she went to Grammar School and High School, what her High School football team's name was (WHAT THE!???) Tthe woman was like, "Ummmm...hang on....let me think. Um, I can't remember, but I was on the drill team!" and the employee asked what her last job was in California and the mother was like, "I worked for this foundation that helped the homeless in Malibu." and the Consulate woman was laughing, going, "You were helping the HOMELESS in Malibu? They HAVE homeless people in Malibu? Okay, sorry ma'm, I know should not laugh. Homelessness is a serious problem prevalent in all of our communities across the nation in the United States." HA! I was trying not to snort. This mother had only come to notify the Consulate that she had given birth and they're asking her what her high school football team's name was! The Consulate lady also made the woman turn the newborn baby around so she could check against the passport pic. At least Consulate lady didn't ask the woman if the baby was really her son or if in fact she'd only met the newborn that morning on the street ;-)

Anyhoo, I'VE VOTED!!! Phew! I have been really upset about not getting my ballot in the mail, so I feel better now. Of course I'd feel a lot better if Dubya lost (and didn't end up as President despite losing) on Nov 2nd.

On a totally unrelated note: GO RED SOX!!!!! WOO-HOO!!! I'm verklempt. I shall talk amongst myself. Sorry, Dad, but I must do a happy dance now that the Red Sox have finally kicked some Yankee ass! They had it coming! :D