My partner, roommate and myself had a wonderful time voting yesterday. Here in Oregon we are fortunate to have 100% “vote by mail.” Our ballots are automatically mailed to us and we can mail them back in, or drop them off at convenient drop-off boxes.
This year’s election seems so contentious, that we decided to make a “big deal” of exercising our right to vote and our freedom to vote as we please. Here’s what we did:
- We got our ballots and (each) looked up all the candidates and ballot measures to make sure we were voting in alignment with our values.
- A few of the ballot measures that we had questions about, we informally debated amongst ourselves.
- We marked up our ballots, privately, after our research and debate were complete.
- We got in the car and put our “2020 Voting Music Playlist” on the sound system (we had each contributed some of our favorite patriotic songs to the list).
- We dropped off our ballots. Each of us said a few words of intentions for our votes as we put it in the drop-off box.
- In celebration, we continued our car trip to some of our favorite American “fast food” restaurants and got our favorite treats, including French fries, hamburgers (and vegeburgers) and milk-shakes.
- We headed home and watched a favorite movie that (to us) represents America at its best: Casablanca.
Why Casablanca, you ask? Why does it represent America at its best? Casablanca is a wartime movie illustrating that doing the right thing (putting the needs of others ahead of personal gain) is part of the noble nature of our American culture. Although portrayed initially as a cynic and opportunist, Humphrey Bogart’s “Rick” is revealed to be deeply human and clearly principled. In the end he must follow his personal values in support of Freedom and Love through a series of selfless and difficult decisions. The film also shows the strength and welcoming nature of the U.S. and its people. Casablanca won three Oscar awards in 1942 and is considered among the top 50 finest films ever made.
Have you planned how you’re going to vote, yet? Don’t forget! Maybe you’d like to make it an event!