the Little Engine that Could

Yesterday was election day. Like everyone else, I won some and lost some. Everyone who votes has a favorite for the big offices, but the smaller ones often slip by unnoticed unless you have an interest in that particular area. I know all the school board members because that effects Maggie, but I really don’t have any idea or opinion on the community college board. That doesn’t mean it’s any less important, it’s not. I just focus my interest more narrowly.

I did make a point to vote for a specific individual in an area that doesn’t usually get my focus. I made a appoint to find someone running for the BART Board. BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit. I never heard of him before Monday and I voted for him on Tuesday. I can’t even find out if he won, because it’s just not making the news. 

Maggie had the day off school on Monday. We went out in the morning to run some errands and went to Safeway to pick up a few groceries.  Generally, I don’t take Maggie to go grocery shopping because it’s so difficult to push the chair and pull the cart at the same time.  Monday was different, though. What turned out to be the final  World Series game was going to start at 4:30 and the stores are packed in the hours leading up to the game  We had to get it done early that day and Maggie had to come with me.  

There were very few available carts.  I had to leave Maggie and walk way into the cart storage area to retrieve one. She was about 15 feet away from me in a relatively small area just in front of the entrance to the store. Maggie was not alone. There was one guy trying to get folks to sign petitions to get MORE initiatives on the next ballot (please!) and a nun collecting donations of food for the elderly and there was my new best friend passing out flyers and asking folks to vote for him. Come to think of it, he may have said the candidate was his friend, I’m not even sure. It was difficult to navigate through these three plus the shoppers coming and going out of the store and everyone was just sort of staring at me.  The candidate (or his friend) stopped what he was doing and said, “can I push this cart in for you.” I just smiled and said, “No thanks. Unless you want to wander through the store with me I have to figure it out.” I threaded my train into the store and smiled.

I appreciate the offer, really I do. It was a bit of an awkward moment and he bothered to notice and try to improve it. That gave me the opportunity to stay upbeat and keep control of the situation. As I walked into the store I made a mental note of the candidates name and decided right then to vote for him. He wants to be on the governing board for Rapid Transit?  Sure! Obviously he has a knack for keeping things moving. 

update - he did NOT win.