Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Of all the nerve!

Well, now for the lowdown, the things I wouldn't write on Shiloh Musings about the elections.

When it comes to my blogging, I've surpassed anything I can blame on being a Gemini. It's more like suffering multiple-personalities syndrome.





I've lost track of the amount of times I've been on the election committee. I've even lost track of the amount of times I've been its chairman. And I'm not the only one. Every time, for countless years, when the yishuv calls a "general meeting" and has to choose an election committee, they ask me to volunteer. Actually this is an improvement. They used to just appoint me, and I'd find out a few days later.


Election Committee has its advantages. It's the Brigadoon committee, since it only lasts 21 days, with a possibility of 21 more. We have a relatively simple job. We have to announce that people should hand in applications to run for office, collect them, announce the candidates and then run the elections, including printing the ballots.

That usually involves a few hours of sitting in the office, saying hello to all the neighbors who come to vote, marking off their names on the list and then counting the votes.

It's fun, really!

The worst is that it sometimes reminds me of work, when people expect us to provide pens, just like some of my students. Isn't it enough that I print the ballots? A few years ago, there were two candidates named Moshe and two named Shlomo. Yes, you guessed it. There were voters who didn't indicate which, so their ballots were invalid. Now they're all typed with little check boxes. And who do you think types them, photocopies them and makes sure they're cut and ready?

Sometimes, ten people come in all at once, and we have to be pretty quick about marking the names, so I don't provide the pen I'm using.

So last night, all of a sudden, a neighbor grabbed the pen that was right in front of me. I let out a scream! He couldn't understand why I got angry. He didn't ask permission; he just grabbed.

He gave it back, but he didn't apologize.

Of all the nerve!

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