My friend L was LifeFlighted to Nashville on Saturday.
My friend P, her roommate, wrote the following:
* * *
L is an election official. She loves the excitement of poll voting.
When things became a manageable for me, I called S (her boss) and let her know that L would not be able to be there on Nov. 4.
S was upset about L’s condition but told me to make sure L understood that she (S)
would take care of things at the polls.
When L was able to communicate (she could not talk because she was still on the ventilator) she wrote a note telling the doc that a non-negotiable was that she vote. She kept writing these notes and
impressed me with the fact that I needed to advocate for her.
On the wall in the ICU was a huge poster listing patient’s rights.
One of those rights is that every patient has the right to vote.
I showed that to the nurses. They said they didn’t know what to do because NO ONE had ever asked them to do this before. Then, I thought of S. I called her and “bingo,” I got an answer. S and a notary
brought L a ballot and while she was on a respirator, she voted!
Not only that…but she started to write notes to all the nurses to get out and vote. She had promises from three nurses…and one nurse said she’d even take her daughter with her to show her what it was
like to vote.
* * *
I’m just saying — if your excuse falls short of “I was on a respirator” — you should probably feel like a real schmuck.