impressions of a poll worker
view from my polling place on election day It was quiet, cold, and peaceful. Frost on the leaves and rooftops. The street lamps gave off a warm orange light. Before setting out to find Room D-1 and begin my new one-day job, I looked up at the stars twinkling in the clear and still dark early morning sky. A rare and beautiful sight for night owl like me. The polls open at 7:00 am , we were supposed to be there at 6:00 for the set-up. I was a few minutes late and hadn’t had time to eat my bagel and coffee, so I brought it with me. Some people were setting up, while others milled about waiting to be told what to do. Nobody was talking much at this hour, and I was able to keep a low profile while I ate my breakfast, the cream cheese of which was suddenly very messy to manage as ate quickly with groggy fingers. When I was done with breakfast, I took the job of placing orange cones at specified locations outside. When I was done with that, I saw that the new-fangled optical ...