On Voting and Public Transportation

Super Tuesday, the following Saturday and Maine today have provided some fun election fare. Everyone is talking about the election, even at the Valentine's Day party I went to last night.

In fact, on the way home from work on Tuesday on the train I sort of had an interesting thought. I wonder how long our generation's new interest in politics will last. Will this be a sea change where people our age actually pay attention to politics and vote, or is this all driven by Barack Obama's charisma?

I sort of think it's like riding the train to work actually. Very few people rode the train to work 15 and 20 years ago. Just this morning I heard a woman on the train sitting down (I was standing because it was so crowded) talking about how much the Ravenswood neighborhood has changed and gotten younger and how almost no one got on at that stop before. The CTA also has had its ridership increase tremendously in the last 10 years or so. A lot of people in the city are thinking, "Geez, why didn't we take the train before? It's fast and easy."

I almost think that's what voting could become like for our generation. "Geez, why didn't we vote and get involved before? It's interesting, easy and important." It makes me think of the T-shirt that my friend Stephen was wearing last night. It remains to be seen if our generation takes on a newfound civic duty, or just gets excited for one election.

My thought for the day.