step one in 'crashing the gate'

On Monday, Jun 12, in a diary titled student's little paper turns political I wrote:

Now, literally, after I post this I am going to pick up the telephone and call the Democratic Co. Committee. They are having a volunteer orientation in a couple of days and I plan to be there.

....and I did. I called them immediately after posting the diary.


I was born a poor black child a bi-political child. My mother, a Democrat (although registered Independent for a long time...but really?? C'mon...who did she think she was kidding??!). My father, Republican with a capitol R (and still supporting Mr. 31%). Needless to say, Sunday dinners in my family are always....animated. My mother and I are blue dots in a family of red. It's very refreshing to read, diary, comment, on the DailyKos and other blogs because I feel like I am with "like minds". Very little of my life has been spent in that realm...in most areas of my life, not just politically. For a while I thought I had that, but no more. I suppose that's how Orange Gearle was born.

Today I attended 'volunteer orientation' at our local Democrat Headquarters. At the last minute I decided to take my 17 year old daughter with me. She will be able to vote in the next election, and I want her to be informed properly. :-) I do not regret that choice.

I pulled into a parking space directly in front of headquarters, it was waiting paitently for me. Signs and banners wallpapered the windows of the little office like a beacon of hope...LOL I'm cracking myself up. (I'm so glad no one reads this) Anyway, it was an interesting place. We walked into a small room. In the adjacent, even smaller office, was a young woman, sitting at a desk, on the phone. She motioned for us to keep walking into the main room. There were weathered tables and chairs, obviously donated...several people on cell phones. As I scanned for a recognizable face I observed a small group of people, maybe four or five sitting at a long conference table...but no familiar faces among them. My daughter and I stood there eyeing the donuts, cookies and soda on the square table, dead center in the room. Soon a very young man completed his cell phone call and walked toward us. He reached toward me and with a firm handshake and said, "Hi, I'm Adam." By the end of the introductions I had learned that this young man was first eligable to vote in the primary last week AND that he is the "head" of this headquarters. I did the math. If he wasn't able to vote in the last election, the oldest he could be now is 19. Later, during introductions to the group this was confirmed. He's 19 and graduated from a high school in a very blue county to our south last year! Good grief, Charlie Brown!

The very informal meeting began. First introductions, then an overview of our goals. Our group was diverse in age, background and experience. It looks like I will be making a lot of phone calls! Part of the way through our discussion the young woman from the front office joined us. I was amazed with both of our leaders. Although they are only in the springtime of their lives, they handled the heterogeneous group very well. They seemed to listen, interact and relate to so many different kinds of people with such ease, it astounded me. I'm social (meaning only that I talk a lot and enjoy people), but I can't do that at all. One couple, in their upper fourties, has been involved with various elections and I think the husband said that he is even one of the web guys for the state website. An older couple (probably close to or in their 70s) explained that they hadn't been involved directly since Dukakis. A sweet woman, probably in her 60s sat directly to my right. I really think I'm going to like her. She spoke about the near depression that she suffered after the 2004 election. Very sweet woman. She also mentioned her grandchildren several times. :-) The man directly to my daughter's left had some issues. We are about the same age -- I have a couple of years on him. I'm pretty certain he was probably in the Gulf War right out of high school....and, well, he had some issues. :-) Did I mention that I pimped Crashing the Gate several times?? I should do an infomercial for Markos and Jerome. :-)

After the meeting was over, Hollyanne and I stayed to check our calendars and the logistics of it all. The young woman was very funny and enjoyed making fun of Adam's youth. She's 24, btw. That deserves another Good grief, Charlie Brown! It was during that conversation that I was ever-so-grateful that my daughter accompanied me tonight. By the time we left, she was considering an internship and possible job with them! (No intern jokes, please!) We will be making a decision about the internship by the end of the week. Now, of course it helps that Adam is so not ugly, but I know my daughter and she wasn't really flirting or anything. Her interest was genuine. It was wonderful!!

Ok, so I'm not exactly Crashing the Gate here. But I'm not sitting around whining either.

I prefer wine, not whine, you know.