Take Your Kid to Vote Day

Fred Wilson wrote in his blog about taking his son to vote yesterday, inspiring me to write about my experiences with voting as a kid.

My mom used to take me and my sister voting with her all the time. She instilled in us the importance of casting your ballot. As a result, we both go out of our way to make sure we always hit the polls on election day.

I love voting so much that I often clap when I come out of the booth. Even if I can't stand my candidate (too often, I'm afraid) I LOVE the process: the sounds from the band room next to the voting booths at the school where I vote, the college kids standing out in the rain handing out leaflets, the bubbes and zaydes who work the polls kvetching and gossiping about the neighborhood. It's such a great experience!

I don't understand why everyone doesn't vote. How crazy is that? My sister is a business agent for a union that represents a lot of state workers and she is shocked by how many of them don't vote. But, she has a simple rule: If you don't vote, you don't get to bitch. She and I feel very entitled to our bitching!