well, get informed

A young girl answers the door.

Nikki: Hi, i'm nikki with the democratic national commitee for John Kerry, are your parents around?
Beth: No, they are out for the night.
Nikki: I see. (hmm. she might be 18, i'll ask) So, are you voting in this election?
Beth: I just turned 18. But, i'm not sure if i'm going to vote.
Nikki: (frown) you have to vote.
Beth: i'm not informed enough to make a decision.
Nikki: well get informed girl! This is your first big decision that you get to make on your own.
Beth: I don't know.
Nikki: well, first of all you should go to Kerry's Web site and look up his voting record on the issues that are important to you and second consider two important things. First, there are two to three supreme court justice positions that should have been availabe in 2003, but they didn't want to give up their seats while Bush was in office.
Beth: why?
Nikki: Because the president appoints the judges. And no one believes bush is capable of appointing fair, moderate judges to the posts because he's very right wing. These judges determine the outcome to cases that involve the interpretation and application of the Constitution and federal law. (ew, i sound just like a 10th grade political science teacher--thank god i just looked this stuff up the other day on google!)
Beth: (shifting, starting to look bored)
Nikki: Look, i know this stuff is dry, but Supreme Court Justices have the power to influence every factor of your life - from the right to privacy, to the right to free speech, to abortion rights. AND the justices are around for 20 years, not just the next 4 years. Which leads me to my second point. (hang on kid, hang on kid!)
Beth: Roe v Wade?
Nikki: Yes! You are a young woman now. It's imortant stuff. Your body, your decision. If you think abortion is immoral, then don't have one. But, we must protect each other's rights to choose. Okay? So give it some thought and go out there and vote.
Beth: thanks. a lot. I really appreciate it.
Nikki: I'm happy to help. good night.

At the end of a long day and only making $110, i realized talking to this girl was my purpose for the evening. Two women standing on a porch in suburban Cupertino talking about the supreme court and women's rights--my life is softly teetering between surreal and sublime right now.