Campaigning in Houghton Street

The day has finally drawn to a close. Campaigning, many people call it. But I honestly think that it was more to do with screaming your lungs out and accosting random people on Houghton Street. Which of course means that right now I am feeling very very tired. But then again I shouldn’t be complaining...many other people seemed to be doing better than me in both the screaming and accosting departments!

It all started out quite normally. I had to put on the mandatory t-shirt, cover myself with lots of ‘I vote for xxxx’ stickers and hand out lots and lots of flyers to anyone who would take them. But before I go any further I think I should let it be known that I’m not really the usual hack. I don’t really care much for politics, neither for people who make a big deal of it. So the only real reason I decided to get involved was so that I could show some support for my friends. Which inevitably meant that I had to campaign for several people at the same time : not the best idea!!!

Handing out flyers was very daunting. Most people decided to pretend I didn’t exist and just walked past. Others had the courtesy to smile while some decided to lie and say that they had already voted. A few decided to listen to what I had to say and walked away possibly a little more convinced that they should vote for the candidate I was supporting. Things weren’t helped by the fact that the weather was freezing and I couldn’t wear a jacket since it would cover up the t-shirt with the candidate’s name on. So I braved the cold, ruined my vocal cords and made a general fool of myself (it was obvious from the funny way all the non-SU/hack people looked at me).

And now I sit here, writing this little piece while I wait for the count to begin. Although I should do the smart thing and go home, the count draws me to it, like a moth to a flame. Hopefully all the screaming and running around I did has paid off and the people I supported will see their dreams come true. But then again experience tells me that election counts are very unpredictable.

So after a very long day I’m only at the beginning of a very long night. Perhaps campaigning wasn’t so bad after all…