The voting rookie

On a pretty San Francisco morning, I surveyed the 7 people in front of me on the voting line. Others were stuck to voting booths inside the room, so the wait seemed long. Figured stirring up a chat would help pass time.

Ahead of me was an aged black man wearing a veteran's cap and in formal wear; he seemed to have worked hard enough to deserve respect. Before I struck a conversation, the vet was greeted by a young black man approaching the line.

"Word up Stinky?" he told the vet. "How you doin' man?"

"Hello Jonathan, this seems a bit early for you," the veteran responded, his English proper. It was 7:45AM.

"Why standing in this line? What's goin' on?" John-John asked the vet, glaring curiously into the voting room.

"I'm voting Jonathan, today is Election Day," Stinky replied.

"What day?" John-John asked, still confused.

"Election Day. Maybe you should vote too." Stinky advised John-John. "If you can play a boombox, you can vote. It's important you vote; our lives could change with your vote. "

John-John started looking more and more excited about the idea of toppling a president. "How can I do it?" John-John asked.

"It's not hard. Here's an election form -- you just select who you want in public office and what policies you don't like," vet said. In SF, supposedly close to the tech capital of the world, we used paper ballots.

"Just walk in there, Jonathan" vet continued, pointing to the room, "and check if your name's on the list. Then they'll give you this form."

Stinky's speech was encouraging, an awe-inspiring demonstration of the need for every U.S. citizen to perform their civic duties.

"So who do I vote for, Stinky?" John-John asked, close to jumping up and down.

Stinky's mood stumbled. From close to saluting the U.S. flag, he now looked demoralized and flattened.

"Maybe it's a good idea for you not to vote Jonathan. May be next time." mumbled vet.