Election Promises

I promise you that this is not a political blog. OK I admit it – once I wrote a post about Donald Trump. Sorry; I couldn’t help myself!

But this time I’m writing After the election, so you know that there will be no attempt to “get out your vote” as they say in the business; which means going to your home very early on election day and getting you out of bed just to let you know that we can drive you to your polling station if you want. We try not to mention that you are wearing your pink bunny slippers or your pj’s with Superman on the chest.

Peter and I campaigned for our local candidate whom we know and like. We helped him out last time too, in 2019, but this time was different. The lead-up to the election was very short, only 36 days, which meant that we were always running to finish our polls in time. We seemed to be always placed with a young group leader, and he could really run fast! We had to keep up with him so we could give him our “data.” Data means that the leader wants to know who will definitely vote for our party, who would rather eat hot peppers than vote for our party, and who was undecided. This last group was our main target. Grab ’em and talk. Talk till their eyes glaze over. If we don’t get anywhere, then pass on their house number so somebody else can have a go at them.

Furthermore most days were very hot. We were sweating as we ran and we had to stop often to fill up with water. A couple of times we were canvassing close to Lake Ontario and it was so inviting that Peter had to drag me away. Sometimes we passed a local bar that was inviting too. But we had our orders – no bar-hopping, no pretending that there were potential voters inside.

But this year the thing that was most different was the anger we found at some homes. A lot of people were upset that an election was called during the pandemic. Some people were concerned that earlier election promises had not been kept. But there were a few people who were just plain rude. Since I was a school principal in my former life, I am no stranger to the “F” word coming out of the mouths of bratty kids. But a couple of adult homeowners very pointedly told me to “get the F off” their property. One woman even told me to “get the F off” her neighbour’s property too!

After several weeks of running, sweating and being sworn at, we could see the election day around the corner. Last time on election day we were scrutineers. This means that you go to the polling station, sign your life away on several forms, and then stare over people’s shoulders to make sure that nobody is voting twice or doing anything else illegal. It’s a thankless job. But this year we got a promotion! We got to be a Home Centre.

At first I wasn’t sure what this entailed. It definitely meant that a lot of people would be coming to our house to collect lists and then travel around our neighbourhood waking other people up to see their pyjamas. Did I have enough time to make muffins and sandwiches for everyone? Was the bathroom floor clean? Did I need to paint the living room red? Peter thought that last one was way too much.

Yesterday we woke up at 6:00 am to get the coffee on. The workers arrived at 8:00 and were at our house all day until 9:30 pm when the polls closed. It was a very long day. But nobody mentioned the bathroom floor or the beige living room. And this morning it was all worth it – our candidate won!

Sue