(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Maybe you haven’t heard, but it’s primary day here in New York. I just voted and, after inserting my ballot into the counting machine, I scanned the desks where the poll workers were sitting. I wasn’t being nosey–I was looking for “I Voted” stickers. Every year, I see my friends on Facebook flaunt the red, white, and blue symbols of their civic duty. I see strangers from neighboring towns in the grocery store or at the gas station with their stickers. My polling place never seems to have them, but after years of never broaching the subject, I summoned the social energy to ask. (Remember, I’m shy.) One man threw up his hands, saying, “I wish!” I thanked them and as I walked to the exit, I heard another poll worker say “I should have picked up some stickers…”
If you know me well, you know exactly where this is going. You see, I may not always have exact change, or a couple of ibuprofen to take when I have a headache, but I always, always have stickers. Why? Well, mostly I use them when signing a check at a restaurant. It’s amazing how much power a little sticky, colorful piece of paper has to bring a smile to someone’s face. (As an aside, I tend to get remembered and get pretty darned good service at the places I frequent. Is there a connection? Maybe.) I put them on answer sheets at bar trivia. I leave them on notes for friends and, much to his eternal embarrassment, I sometimes put them on my son’s lunch containers.
Beaker is especially popular…
Hearing the poll worker’s comment, I went to my car and collected every smiley face and star sticker sheet I could find in my stash. If you could have seen the smiles on the poll workers’ faces when I walked back in and gave them literally several hundred stickers. They were delighted and so grateful. I didn’t have my “I Voted” sticker, but I walked away feeling like I’d done my little part to make a difference beyond casting my ballot. Who knows, maybe some fellow Trojan is sporting a bright blue smiley face on his shirt as I type this, connecting us in this invisible human web we call community. All because of a sticker.
P.S.–Go vote!
