Manning Up

I am woman enough to admit that I did not make it to the polls yesterday... I did not make it for many reasons- traffic, long work hours, traffic, weather, traffic, closed polls too early maybe? Yes, today I want to gripe about why the "decision makers" of our great country only keep the polls open until 7:00 pm. Unless, I come into work late or cut my work day short, there is no way I am going to make it to the polls before they close the doors! Maybe that is one of the reasons they have such a "low" turnout? Why not keep them open until 9:00pm? I bet another two hours would merit MUCH more participation...especially in urban areas of the country. The working man (who I think is most affected by the end result of the presidency pick) cannot just blow off work to go vote! I can't imagine some blue-collar worker explaining that to his boss man when he is late or trying to cut his shift early for voting purposes... and what about his short pay? Now fortunately for me, I am salary-paid and in my position, I do not have the problem of a boss with the big thumb on my head.... but, I have friends and family that do and I am griping for them! Another complaint I have about my trip home last night was that the majority of the traffic congestion that was in the residential areas where the voting locations were! Maybe these Churches, schools, etc. that volunteer their facility for voting polls should have a traffic plan too... even more so if they are located on a major artery road that funnels massive droves of traffic day in and day out! Maybe hire a cop to stand out front and direct traffic? I mean how much would that help? A LOT! Besides, it is only 1 or 2 days a year... it should be the officers duty to his country... Jumping off the soapbox now...