Send In the Marshals

So, the voting booths arrived on Friday. I saw them sitting in the chapel. I didn't think much about it until I arrived at work this morning, only to find a minivan with a little BVM on the dashboard in the parking space very clearly reserved for "Trinity Assitant #1". Which would be me. And I wondered to myself, in a not entirely charitable way, how could this be confusing to someone? I am the only one in this city who knows herself to be "Trinity Assitant #1" - noone else holds that exalted position. No, not even you. (Apparently they also parked in my boss' space - here's a clue: if you don't know what a 'Rector' is, you probably aren't one, so don't park in that space.)

Apparently, last time it was time to vote, the local government had a contract with us, we arranged for parking for the volunteer workers, yadda yadda yadda.

This time, they just dropped the booths off and left. No contract. No agreement. Nothing remotely legal. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.

Our wonderful business manager let them know that this was entirely uncool on several levels (not the exact words she used, I'm certian). They, in turn, accused us of standing in the way of democracy. They threatened to send the Marshals in.

Let me repeat that.

They threatened to send the Marshals in.

They, in their arrogance, have created this snafu, and they inform us that we are standing in the way of democracy? I would like to point out very explicitly right now that every staff member in this church, plus the church itself, and I dare say the church at the diocesan level as well as at the national level... we all love democracy, thank you very much. But really, considering this incredible lack of communication and then aggressive threat of violence and coersion- is there any real wonder that the government at every level in the Greater Buffalo Niagara Region is in the state that it is? Does this remind ANYONE of issues of quartering troops?

I mean, give me a break.

And now, I have to go move my car.