Yesterday I Put on Pants

 Yesterday I put on pants.  That’s not something anyone would normally consider remarkable or noteworthy, but it’s 2020 and I haven’t put on pants that weren’t preceded by an adjective such as “pajama,” “yoga,” or my personal favorite “daytime pajama” in at least 7 months and 18 days.  I went to the trouble of putting on pants to carry out a tradition, I didn’t even realize this was a tradition until Alex mentioned it.  Before we vote, we brunch.  More importantly, we sit down over a meal that usually includes eggs and go over the people and the propositions on the ballot.   

I’m pretty sure we stumbled into this tradition during a city election where we grabbed an actual newspaper that had a side by side run down of the candidates and their positions, as well as a complete description and discussion of the propositions that were on the ballot, and sat down to discuss them over two number 6s on the patio at Snug on the square.  Feeling confident that we were armed with more knowledge than a yard sign, we headed over to city hall to cast our votes.  Somehow this just kind of stuck.

On the one hand, this doesn’t seem all that remarkable or even interesting… a married couple goes to breakfast and votes… BORING.  But I started thinking about what this really represents.  I get to vote.  That doesn’t seem that novel, but this is only the 26^th Presidential election in which women have had a voice or a vote.  The idea that a wife would have a say, much less her own ballot in election, is newer than the bob (the hairstyle, not the name. it’s true… I looked it up).

Pre-vote Brunch is more than just the idea that I get to vote, it’s also about conversation, discussion, and education before we vote.  In a world of memes and a never ending conversation about red, blue and purple it’s easy to get lost in the world of single party and top ticket politics.  When we do this we lose sight that the state and local politicians may have different or more nuanced views than the Presidential and Senate candidates, and those views often have a more direct impact on our lives.  When you take time to look at what each person stands for even if it’s a simple response to the League of Women Voters, you are armed with knowledge and when you cast your vote, you are in fact voting for the person not the party.  Moreover, brunch is about discussion.  I admit, Alex and I have pretty similar political leanings, but we don’t see eye to eye on everything, this is an opportunity to look at each candidate, discuss their key positions (and maybe where they went to law school) and then decide on our own which candidate gets our vote.  It’s the sort of dialogue I wish we would see on a broader scale.  It is finding the specific reason why I should vote for this particular PERSON more than the party name that follows theirs on the ballot. 

I know I’m writing this a little late since 90 million Americans have already voted, but if you haven’t considered finding your own way to have pre-vote brunch before you hit the poles tomorrow. Either way, l hope we all find a way to start having real conversations about people to parties even if it’s not over a plate of eggs. 

Tomorrow, I will celebrate that I can Vote (and that I can still button my pants.)