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Not Just the Freedom to Fly

dcarpe2lsu
Explorer C

I have had the privilege to work in the Legislative Communications & Grassroots Department at Southwest Airlines for over two years. Among our many other tasks, our department has been out in full force in 2008 registering our Employees to vote.  We were present at every Message to the Field. We hosted Voter Registration Drives at various stations and Flight Attendant bases.  Most of the time, we have Employees say to us “I have already registered and I vote every in every election.”  However, every so often we have an Employee who is not registered, and our Team is there to help them with their momentous occasion!

I will never forget the day I registered to vote!  It was on my 18th birthday. My father told me the night before the big birthday that I could check into school late because we were going to breakfast and then we had some other “official business to take care of.”  I didn’t question him because I was thrilled to have a morning to sleep in during my senior year of high school.  When I got up that morning, I finally asked what else are we going to do.  He said that after breakfast we are going to Register to Vote!  Politics was very important in the home I grew up in.  We would have “mini parties” on election night with patriotic-themed plates and napkins and American Food, and I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime and watch the returns come in. My father recognized the importance of the greatest right we have as American citizens--voting.  It was just two weeks before the cut-off to register to vote because the next presidential election was only six weeks away.  I will always remember that birthday because, not only did I get a really cool stereo, I registered to vote! Election night that year at our “family party” was even more special to me because I had been able for the first time to cast my vote.  I have since gone on to college and moved to another state. My father reminded me that I needed to change my voter registration immediately.   He has always called on the morning of an election to remind me to vote.  And I know this year will be no different---even if the call does come at 6:00 am! (Don’t worry, Daddy. I already early voted!)
 
Recently Dora Villarreal in our Emergency Response Department walked over to pick up a couple of voter registrations forms.  She picked up two forms, and I asked “Oh, is one for your husband?” She said, "No, my parents became United States Citizens this year after living in the US since 1967."  Realizing that this country has given her parents what they have today, they are grateful for that and feel the need to vote and make a difference at a place they call home.  Dora’s story really touched me. How lucky are we!

So tomorrow, remember that you not only have the Freedom to Fly but you have the Freedom to Vote! Get out & vote!

4 Comments
aodisho
Explorer C
Your enthusiasm is contagious!! Get out and vote!!
Monica11
Explorer C
Celebrate your freedom tommorow ... VOTE!!!
kim-seale
Adventurer C
Dorothy, What a great post! It is my hope that none of us ever lose the enthusiasm that you displayed at age eighteen! Regardless of the candidates or the issues, there is no excuse for apathy and non-participation. Election Day is just one of the days when I am reminded why people like my Dad put on a uniform and faced the horrors of war. I have been privileged to serve as a Precinct Chairman and Election Judge for about eighteen years, and always have considered it an honor and a sacred duty to create and maintain the sanctity of the polling place to allow everyone who was legally eligible and who lived in my precinct the opportunity to vote in a secure environment. Every time I've gotten frustrated over people with petty and frivolous complaints, I remember the various handicapped and elderly folks who would routinely make the effort to get to my polling place so they could vote. I used to have one gentleman who spent ninety minutes getting ready, waited for and rode in a mass transit handicap van each way and never asked for any special consideration inside the polling place. His round trip experience would approach five hours, but he wouldn't miss the chance. I've had senior citizen emigrates who have recently become naturalized and had your excitement in their seventies and eighties because they were getting to vote for the first time in their lives. So, PLEASE, if you haven't already done so, go out and vote today. But, while you're there, please do me two favors: 1.) Don't just vote for a Presidential candidate and then leave. There are many other races involving men and women who want to serve you on a statewide, local and neighborhood level, as well as bond proposals and legislative issues that will impact you. Vote all the way through to the end of your ballot and make your voice heard! 2.) While you are there for the few minutes that it takes, please thank the election workers who have dedicated, on average, about fourteen hours of their day to provide you the environment where you are voting. They are NOT paid much and for most of them, it is a labor of love and patriotic duty. Happy Election Day! Kim Customer Relations Blog Boy
Anonymous2904
Explorer C
Thanks for sharing this patriotic story! It is so encouraging to see people living the "American Dream." For me, part of that dream is the privelige we have to vote!