my election story

In seventh grade homeroom we were told by the calm and docile shop teacher (yep, shop teacher) that we need to elect a homeroom representative. I now have no idea what the job of this person was, but I remember the election very clearly because I ran.

My opponent was a blond haired girl named Susan whom I had known for years and years. She was smart, quiet and nice. She was not of the "in" crowd (read: she did not hang with my peeps), but she was the closest to a normal person in our homeroom so she was the one I sat beside and pretended to have a friendship with for that 15-20 minute period. We made no speeches or cries for votes. We simply raised out hands to volunteer to run and then a vote was cast. I assumed, this being my very first election, that one must never vote for oneself in a public vote because that would seem too selfish, too needy, too bigheaded. And so, in my selflessness, I raised my hand to vote for Susan and by doing this lost the election quite quickly. Susan, however, voted for herself. She wasn't as nice as I thought she was.

Whether you voted for your opponent or yourself, a democrat or a republican, I hope you voted today. If you didn't you should feel like Susan should feel, selfish and ashamed.