election day

I thought about this this morning as I shuffled into our polling place in my slippers: Why isn't Election Day a national holiday?

Seriously. No school. Close the banks. Close the market. Shut stuff down.

What greater day do we, as a nation, have to celebrate? How many men and women have died for this day? How many spouses and parents have folded U.S. flags for this day? How many people have sacrificed in times of war - all for the first Tuesday of every other November? This is a big day when we have the opportunity to live for what so many others have died for; why should it be a chore and a ding out of our paychecks to get to the voting booth?

I realize we have Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, and those are good days. But why not take the day we actually go to the polls to exercise our expensive freedoms as a day to remember too?

I'm not lobbying for an extra day off, here, either. Move Veteran's Day to the first Saturday of November if that makes it easier. It just seems like we talk about vote, vote, vote. It's your responsibility. It's your duty. It's a liberty that comes at a high price. And all those things are true, but they become mere slogans when we get up early to vote and then rush to work and forget about the whole thing until the evening news.

I also have to wonder what it would do for voter turn-out. One less excuse.

Just a thought for you on this lovely Election Day.

Oh, and don't forget: Free (tall) Starbucks coffee when you flash your "I Voted" sticker.