A line of people stretched out of the church gymnasium and into the parking lot, where the temperature rose with the sun as it climbed toward noon.
A volunteer handing out suckers said, "It's an hour wait, but it's the quickest place around." Another church up the street had a line wrapped around it, one lady said, and the wait there was at least two hours, maybe three.
Three hours can be a long time. A few people dressed in the uniforms they wear to work each day -- pant-suits, shirts and ties, nurses' smocks,checked their watches. A lunch hour and more sacrificed for democracy.
In the parking lot, one heard people were heard discussing the candidates. Iraq came up a lot. So did abortion and health care. Even the price of gas leaked into the conversation, though a few wondered aloud what that had to do with the president.
The chatter stopped as the line moved into the building. The narrow sidewalk that led to the gym ran along a fenced-in playground full of children, and people fell silent as they watched kids climb on the jungle gym, crawl around a plastic castle and see how high they could go on the swings.
Even a casual reader of my columns knows my political leanings, so I won't bother anyone with an endorsement for whom I voted. I do feel, however, like many on both sides of the fence, that this is the most important election so far of my lifetime.
If you didn't vote in the early elections, you still have next Tuesday to cast your ballot for whom you think can best lead this nation for the next four years.
Vote against something, vote for something, but vote.
We've spent billions of dollars and spilled gallons of blood in this young century and the last, bringing the freedom of elections to other countries. Yet every year we hear of poor voter turnout, apathetic youth and disinterested masses.
Don't fulfill the stereotype of college students that care more for MTV than who leads the nation. Stand up and force the pundits and the analysts to take you and the things you care about seriously.
