D-Day

Today (19th Nov) is D-Day!  Yes, it's the day we from all walks of life go to the polls.  I got up at 6.30 a.m. and was at the polling station at 7.30 a.m. after a quick breakfast.  I thought I would be one of the earliest but to my dismay, I found at least 20 people ahead of me!  So I joined the queue and made light conversation with those standing in front and behind me.  I was relieved to see that everyone was wearing his/her mask and luckily for us all, the weather was fine with no hint of any rain at all.  

So after waiting for half an hour, the gates to the polling station finally opened at 8 a.m., we trooped in and after registering ourselves, we were directed to another part of the building to cast our votes.  Here again, the queue was very long and slow moving and some people started getting anxious and impatient.  Some complained to the volunteers and told them to hurry it up.  Some grumbled under their breath about "dirty tactics".  Incidentally, my polling station is a school which has since closed and we actually queued up at what looked like the canteen, with long tables and benches.  So it was a relief to be able to sit down for a while and rest my feet.  I was very fortunate to meet a helpful and kind voter who let me stand in front of her in the queue though I actually arrived later than she did, and during our long wait, she kept an eye on me in case I missed my turn!  

So when it finally came to my turn, you could say I was "prepared" after having read all those warnings in Whatsapp messages which were flooding my phone prior to D-Day.  I was ready with my tissue paper to wrap round the finger that would be dunked into indelible ink so that I wouldn't smudge my ballot paper and of course my sanitizer to clean my hands after touching various objects like the pen for marking my ballot paper.

  I left the school after one and a half hours of queuing but feeling happy I had done my duty.  I couldn't wait to go home for a hot drink, a warm shower and just relax!  

At the time of writing, the results are not out yet.  May the best man win.