I Saw Beautiful Things Today

I served as a Poll Watcher today. This is a small and insignificant part of American politics, where each party can send observers to voting locations to watch that the election laws are being scrupulously followed to neither deny anyone their rightful vote nor to permit anyone to vote illegally. I spent roughly half the day in each of two locations, both of which had two precincts voting. One was on the edge of a prestigious private university and the other was in the most ethnically diverse region of the city.

And I saw beautiful things today.

I stood in the dark of a November morning and looked up at mighty Orion standing in the crystal clear sky.

I saw two college women waiting twenty minutes before the polls opened, so that one could attest to the other's residency in the precinct.

I saw a couple who had come from Somalia as refugees and who had been naturalized in July proudly wave their ballots over their heads as they walked across the room while everyone in the polling place, including the officials, stood and applauded.

I saw text messages from a friend monitoring another precinct telling me about a ninety-year-old woman and a 107 year-old man casting their votes.

I saw college students take their first step toward running this country by voting for the first time.

I saw couples of every gender combination hug and kiss after voting together.

I saw election officials white and black, liberal and conservative, do everything within the law to make it possible for people to register.

I saw people who couldn't produce the proper documentation come back, after having gone home to dig for what was needed.

I saw a middle-aged Hmong man smiling as though he would explode with joy after casting the first ballot of his life.

I saw people of all colors, national origins, and religions standing patiently together as they waited in line.

I saw two gay men proudly say that they now had the same last name as the poll worker looked them up on the roll of voters.

I saw two observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) watching American democracy, so that they can make recommendations and comments.

I saw two dozen people put aside their lives to calmly and patiently scan, sort, examine, and explain more than a thousand times all of the details needed to register and check in voters and to give them their ballots.

And when I walked across the street to an Arabic grocery to stretch my legs and grab a bottle of mango juice and some baklavas, the owner called me brother as we chatted about the beautiful weather.

Today, I saw the things that make me proud to be an American.