Too Close to Call

 The polls have tightened and the big prognosticators are telling us that the presidential race is too close to call.  Maybe so, we've seen this before.

During the 2000 race, with GW Bush vs Al Gore, I was blissfully single.  Meeting Belle was still a year away and I was playing the field.  There was this one gal, we'll call her Maggie.  She had one adult daughter, worked as a recreation director at a local nursing home, and drove an SUV.  On her SUV was an Al Gore bumper sticker.

For myself, the motorcycle had a Bush bumper sticker. Needless to say, Maggie and I had some interesting conversations about the political climate. I realized that she, being an artsy type and a liberal, that she had never dated a conservative. Or a motorcyclist, nor probably a redneck.  I was exotic.  She was smitten.

So, there we were, from different worlds, in the midst of a presidential election.  So, a friendly bet was made on the outcome of the race. We would watch the returns together, at her place, and when the result was announced, the bet would be settled.

Imagine our chagrin, when about midnight, the race was too close to call.  No one knew.  Hanging chads in Florida.  The race could not be called, and would eventually go to the Supreme Court.  What a disaster.

George Bush eventually became president.  Maggie and I parted ways shortly after Christmas.  Not because of political differences, but because I realized that she was a conniving harpy and I simply walked away.  

I met Belle a month later, at a Super Bowl party.