On Election Day, I was extremely lucky to volunteer as a poll watcher at a location in my neighborhood in South Philly. Our job was to make sure lines ran smoothly, answer voter questions, pass out PPE, sing, dance, keep spirits up, and make sure folks had food and water if they needed it.
For those who followed along on my Instagram stories, I took this picture around...I don't remember actually As volunteers, we were there from 6:30 am to 9:00 pm, so I was essentially delirious and dehydrated at this point. And yet the day was filled with hope and energy!
John Lewis talks about this a lot in his memoir, 'Walking With the Wind' - about the tiniest, tedious, tasks that make up the fight for justice and our democracy. They are not glamorous, or shiny, but they are crucial to pulling the levers of change and freedom.
Tuesday was not glamorous. Everyone was there in the freezing cold for 14+ hours, doing tedious work that protects our democracy:
-the poll watchers,
-Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (who stood with us, chatting about how she loves working with AOC, and handed out soft pretzels like a queen)
-the Food for the Polls folks who served chicken wings to everyone
-the fearless poll workers
-the Judges of Elections
-the poll protectors
-the reporters
-La Colombe coffee that brought cold brew for us all
-Common (who performed in West Philly!)
-Joy to the Polls who sang and danced all day
-and the long lines of voters who stayed in line, kept their cool and did the thing.
Three volunteers came to work the afternoon shift with me, and when I told them I was a romance author, they said, "No way. All three of us are crime fiction authors!" Which made the day even more fun, chatting author-biz stuff, and writer's block, and learning about another genre. They were awesome!
One volunteer angel, Craig, hung with us all day (he's in his 80s) making pot after pot of hot coffee and bringing it to us in styrofoam cups on his TV tray. He kept being like "now I've got a nice French Vanilla creamer, would you like that?" (). That hot coffee literally saved us when the sun set and the temperature dropped - as did his cheerful, positive spirit.
I would do this again in a heart-beat -- and if you've ever wanted to get involved in local elections, I highly recommend volunteer shifts like the one I did. Help is always needed, plus you get to meet and hang with your neighbors.
(And yes, I wore my Ripped Bodice sweatshirt all day!)