I fulfilled my civic duty today and My first preference vote went to the ONLY candidate who took the time to call at my door and have a decent conversation with me.
As I was walking along to the school a very large heavyweight DUP Poster board was tied to a very low pole outside the local Church of Ireland. It was an obstruction and danger to pedestrians. In fact a much younger person who thought their needs were much more important than this here little old lady, almost pushed me into it. Had the board and I made contact, my poor face would be sporting a shiner (black eye) if not worse.
When I reached the school gate the DUP candidate threw a hand sideways at me to give me a flyer, all the while continuing his conversation with a buddy on his way to vote.
Since he did not have the manners to treat me with normal respect, I interrupted his conversation and asked him to step forward to show him the offending poster.
All smiles, he agreed with me that it was far too low and he would have it removed immediately.
My Senior Bus Pass was accepted ( still no sign of my now paid for driving licence) and I was given the voting paper with more names on it than beads on a rosary! I played my 1,2,3 etc., up and down the page and added my sheet to the polling box for what it is worth.
Needless to say, when I re-emerged into the sunshine (13°C this morning) the offending poster was still swinging there on the pole.
I wonder if it will still be there tomorrow?
We can hope not!
My guess is it might still be there at Christmas… a little like the Flegs!
Ha!
You weren’t tempted to swat the candidate with an umbrella? Or kick the poster to bits? Surely reasonable reactions under the circumstances,
Col, my high kicking days are over, I hate umbrellas and the poster was far too big to fight with.
Pity.
I know. Anyway if I had attacked the poster they might have turned the tables on me.
I agree!
Sally, better to save my breath to cool my porridge!
A politician not really listening to his constituents? Say it ain’t so! I’m shocked!
Al I don’t think that listening is really a high priority for any politician.
Up our road the only posters were DUP and TUV. They were also the only candidates to call at the door. Neither impressed us. My granddaughter said she hoped I’d voted for the Garden Party. I think she meant Garden Show Ireland.
Not to be mixed up with The Tea Party across the pond! Are you going to the Garden Show?
Yes. Going tomorrow with Zoe and the girls. What about you?
I will be there at some stage today with a friend.
Your voting sounds more rapidly achieved than ours. We have two enormous papers, one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate. You have two option for filling them in, you have to make multiple choices in terms of names and relative preference – and it matters because of who will support your main choice in a parliamentary context. All our pollies are scoundrels, no-one makes house calls any longer, and they get volunteers to hand out leaflets at the entry to the polling station, knowing that if they stood there themselves they’d get multiple ear-bashings from all and sundry. Also, voting is obligatory, and you get fined if you don’t do it! There’s one good thing about voting…. It’s at the primary school at the end of our street. You can also do an advanced vote too, if, like the Husband, you’re working when the voting’s on.
Kate, we now have postal voting which must be done in advance. On the 23rd June we will be called on again to cast our vote on the European Referendum – Stay in or leave. Last year we had elections to elect MPs to serve in Westminster.
Over here they leave all the campaign posters up until they start to fall off in the rain and the city sends them a removal order and a first fine. It’s good advertising. And we get cardboard covered grass. Especially in the city park. And the knowledge that the posters of the party that wins, always the socialists, will be up until only the wires holding it are left. Which the city government then removes for free.
Here in Northern Ireland, election posters and flags are left to rot on the poles. In the Irish Republic, The parties have two weeks to remove the posters or they will be fined. I wish that happened here.
most posters here, get destroyed by “axe-weilding” protesters…or the they are “defaced” with beards on heads that shouldn’t be – and if you have an interesting name, watch out for letters erased or added…
That can happen here at times too.
It was quite a business placing 18 preferences on my ballot paper (the reasons for placing all 18 have been well-rehearsed elsewhere). I decided them all in advance and took a crib sheet into the polling booth to make sure I got them all right. Now we just have to wait a nerve-wracking two days until all those preferences have been allocated and the victors announced. And then Stormont continues to do everything at a snail’s pace or not at all.
I am sure there will be plenty of scurrying about as the new MLAs try to grab the ‘best’ committees… those that will pay the most expenses. All we can hope for is change for the good.
Good that you achieved what you set out to do and it is a pity about the sign board. Totally thoughtless, but I suppose election time some ot these things happen.
Yes, Ramana, I cast my vote. It shows how little the candidates really care about the voters when they so carelessly post their publicity posters, or the countryside when they leave then there to rot and litter the ground around them. Same can be said for the disrespect they have for the Flegs aka Flags.