Another week of voter registration

We've gotten through another week of voter registration. I'm getting into the groove of it, and even busted out the courage to try some Spanish. I'm sure I'm murdering the language, but nobody seems to mind at all. It's funny - I can understand 90% of what is being said in Spanish, but replying back is a whole different ball game. The phrases I was able to say where completely parroted from having heard them so often. It's a beginning.

There continued to be a lot of volunteers showing up to help. By 5:30, the room is pretty packed and everyone is very eager to get going. Of course, that eagerness translates into lots of jostling and pushing into the line, so no matter what time I get there, I end up being pushed to the back. No big deal really - it just feels like a shoe sale at Macy's.

On Friday I was paired up with a nice man who leaves near Mayor Stack. As with most of the other volunteers, he's known him for some time and has been a supporter all along. We went with another pair of volunteers down to 14th/Palisades. We split up with Jose (I think that was his name) and I doing 14th between Palisades and New York Ave, and Franklin and his partner doing 15th St. I don't go down to that section very often, and I was glad to see that it was mostly houses and only one apartment building. We'd made plans to meet back at the car in 45 minutes, so we were hoping to move as efficiently as possible. It was pretty cold out which is always a motivating factor.

We were lucky to register a pair of voters in the first house we went to. People seem to be pleased to see us, and for the most part, a lot of the people were already registered to vote. Many others, like myself, are residents but not citizens so those were pretty quick as well.

We were pretty close to meeting time by the time we got to the apartment building, so we kept an eye on the corner in case we had to run outside and ask Franklin for more time. What took the longest was actually getting in the building - I tried calling the Super, but he was not at home and told me to just keep buzzing. A nice lady on the ground floor let us in, and we were able to cover all three floors pretty quickly. One lady who answered her door was holding the cutest baby in the world. A little boy, probably around six months old. He was such a happy smiley baby and his mom was pretty happy too. I think we caught her in the middle of making dinner and whatever she was making smelled delicious. I was looking forward to getting home and making my own dinner.

We finished the apartment building and went out to the corner to wait for Franklin. We ended up waiting a bit out in the freezing cold. At least I thought it was freezing cold but some kid skateboarding on the corner didn't think so, he wasn't even wearing a jacket. Ah, youth.

I hope this week continues to go well. The weather this morning is awful. We had heavy winds last night, and lots of rain. If it continues like this all day, I'm sure the turnout tonight will be smaller. Maybe I can keep my place in line this time!

Only slightly dissapointed

I should have started this last week, just after the first volunteer meeting for the re-election campaign...I'll have to turn back time a bit, but let me start with today.

So it's nearing two pm, and I just got off the phone with the Mayor. I had left a message for him last night, letting him know that I was available for more volunteer work than just voter registration and leaflet distribution. I had also put together an online strategy proposal for the re-election, which I'm sure got shoved into someone's briefcase and immediately forgotten about. In my voice message last night, I asked him if he'd received the proposal, and if not, to let me know who his Chief of Staff is so that I can follow up directly.

Now we come to the disappointed part. He says "let's just concentrate on the door to door right now". I could tell he was in the midst of a few things at once, and so I let it go, thanked him for his return phone call and hung up. Sigh. I know that there are a bunch of other jobs that I can help with, and I realize that it must be so difficult for the Mayor to reply to everyone that wants to help - but I'm feeling a bit frustrated because as much as I love my town, it's politics as usual. It's who you know, not what you can do. Of course, if the shoe was on the other foot, I'm pretty sure I'd be happy. This is simply the reality of a town where the mayor is very supported, and even volunteer work is divvied up according to relationships. So nobody (but me, and maybe my husband) gets what I can offer, and if they *do* get it, they probably can't even stop to take a breath to think about the benefits. Right now it's one step at a time, and naturally the focus is on the most immediate concern of voter registration.

The volunteers have been out in full force all week, starting with last Wednesday for voter registration. The meeting was called for 5:30/6pm, and I was there a few minutes before 6pm. I stood in the middle of the crowd, but as soon as Izarry started speaking, the crowd surged to the front, leaving me in the dust. Of course, since I'm by myself it's much easier to get shoved to the back. Union City is friendly enough, and I love it here, but man it's hard to break in...everyone knows each other, and they seem leery of inviting a newcomer into the mix. Unlike previous towns I've lived in, this isn't a place where people extend the hand of friendship too easily. Maybe a language barrier? I think it's probably just a general attitude of "who is this newcomer", I'll say hi after seeing her around for a few years. So despite being teamed off with complete strangers, not one of them introduces themselves to me - they simply give an instruction and you are meant to follow it. I pointedly introduced myself and asked for their names, which they gave, but I was clearly operating out of the general comfort zone.

I guess I feel a bit better getting this frustration out of my head. Understanding the situation (I do) is definitely not the same as liking the situation (I don't).