This has been a very long and nasty voting season, but on Election Day my faith in Americans and how they treat one another moved up 100 notches.
My youngest daughter was voting for the first time and wanted to vote in person.
At the last minute, her work schedule for Election Day changed, and her only option was to drive into Akron on Monday and vote at the Board of Elections on Grant Street.
I did not want her to stand in line by herself, so I decided to join her.
When we arrived, the parking lot was full and the line was long. I had expected this, but since I have a broken foot and walk with a boot, it was a slow process. We parked, crossed the street and headed for the end of the line.
Right away, those in front of us in line started making conversation.
We spoke a little about the length of the line and being chilly, but mostly it was about our families and jobs.
The man in front of us was a Vietnam vet, and he was happy to see so many out to vote, regardless of their choices. A lady worked with those rehabbing from drug abuse.
After about an hour, as we rounded a bend in the line, someone noticed my boot and asked me what I had done to my foot.
I explained that it was broken. Within three minutes, people were telling me that I needed to go to the front of the line. They called an employee and held the roping up so that my daughter and I could move ahead.
We easily passed up 150 people. Every one of them encouraged me to keep going and to have my daughter hold me for support, so that they would let her pass as well.
We entered the building, where we still waited another 40 minutes, but people offered me chairs, asking if I needed anything and giving up their spots for me.
After we voted, my daughter said that she could not stop smiling because she was so happy to have been able to vote for the first time.
I cannot think of a better experience for her and a way for her to see that people of all types, ages and races can stand together for long periods of time talking to one another and enjoying one another’s company while waiting to exercise their right to vote.
I did not hear one unkind word during the entire experience. I was proud to be an American.
Thanks to all those who worked long hours at the polls and spoke with respect to all of those waiting to cast their ballot.
Lynn Yanko
Akron
Down the road to socialism
Thanks to the mainstream media and newspapers like the Beacon Journal and the New York Times, Barack Obama has been elected to four more years in the White House.
Look for America to go completely socialist. We will be just like Greece, Germany and the rest of the European Union.
As a U.S. Army veteran and Christian, I feel like just throwing up. In the next four years, look for $20 trillion in debt, more entitlements, more taxes on all, more lost freedoms and more lies by our president.
President Obama said in his campaign speeches that he always tells the truth. Have you ever seen any elected official who always tells the truth? President Obama tells the truth when it is convenient.
Shame on most of our religious leaders for not speaking out and telling the truth. The truth hurts sometimes, but it is the only way to go. Have our religious leaders lost their backbones? Now, they only want to tickle the ears of their congregations.
For the 48 percent who did not vote for Obama, every day we must make all our elected officials accountable and hold their feet to the fire. Do not sit back and be run over by the media and the president and Congress. Voice your views and be heard. Work hard to keep America free and do everything in your power to stop this socialist agenda.
Wayne Daily
Barberton
