Noble Maloof Votes for Bush

It was 6:45am. I was headed to my polling spot just down the street, umbrella up, sidewalks soaked. Others - dampened but not discouraged - were off to do their civic duty and vote in this presidential election of 2004. A few were headed back home with the little sticker on their shirts and coats. "I voted today."
As I stepped in the building I was greeted with the question, "What precinct are you from?" Turns out my precinct had a long line. Another precinct at the same polling location had a very short line. It was at this moment that I noticed Noble Maloof two voters behind myself. He didn't see me. He was from the other precinct and so before I could embark on what surely would have been the greatest Noble Maloof story ever told, he was ushered by me to the shorter line. I watched as his Kanga cap disappeared ahead and into a voting booth. An older German gentleman standing behind me in line kept my ear full of stories and sound advise (ranging from how to choose a restaurant to why modern music was so stupid) until I reached the front of the line. Maloof had already left. I missed my chance. I voted and left, trudging home in a hurry to change clothes and make the morning bus.

And there he was. I waved and sat elsewhere because his bench was taken up by someone else. And then he spoke...

"Did you.. did you vote for Bush" he asked his companion, "or the other fellow?" She responded, but I couldn't hear. "I voted for Cheney, you see." Here he laughed a short little gurgled gaffaw. "I voted for the Vice President... because it makes a difference to my life who's in there."

So there you have it folks. Noble Maloof voted for the Vice President of the United States because it makes a difference to his life. And as the nice German gentleman said before I went to the booth, "Be careful where you put your pin, because you may end up paying for it."