You Vote, You Get Exit-polled and... You Meet a Neighbor

September 11th 2007. Primary election day in Baltimore. Jacob and I head out to vote.

Our polling place is next door to Park Charles (in the Charles Towers) so the greater part of our voting commute is just a 52-floor ride on the elevators. 26-floors down and 26-floors back up. Usually the whole voting thing is over in fifteen minutes or so. Usually. I mentioned to Jacob that voting at lunchtime might take a bit longer.

After casting our votes for Mayor Sheila Dixon, Michael Sarbanes and William Cole we'd headed back home when we were asked by Ben Green, of the Associated Press, if we'd comment on our voting.

Yep. Of course.

Sure, let's get the word out. Baltimore needs Dixon, Sarbanes and Cole. And the AP's Mr. Green was a smart guy. Affable. (Easier to talk to than other pollsters that I've run across.)

Green was also amazingly forthcoming and a decent interview in his own right.

We learned that he is from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. He's lived in Baltimore for over two years and he has a place in Baltimore's Mount Vernon area. (Although as he said, "I didn't know much about the neighborhood when I moved there.")

I was interested in the AP's Baltimore Bureau as when I want to truly follow a story I often visit the Associated Press Website. AP still follows stories like the great newspapers did years ago. (As a copywriter, I also rely on the online AP Stylebook and the print version.) I asked Mr. Green about the bureau's location. Sure enough, Associated Press Baltimore is actually in our building.

The three of us chatted. It was good. We wished each other a great day. And shook hands. (Be warned: Mr. Green has a grip that could crush a cow's hoof!)

And, after Jacob and I returned, I wondered: Could the Ben Green we met today be any relation to the wonderful writer, Ben Arthur Green? That Ben A. Green wrote several wonderful books and worked as a newspaper writer and editor in the Alabama, Florida and Tennessee area decades ago. I don't know for certain... but, Jacob and I may have been interviewed by a legacy of an exceptional writer.

Regardless, we were interviewed by a fine, young journalist. Watch for the Ben Green byline.

And now, get out and VOTE.