Anat jogged down to the children’s center in her new black Lacoste trainers. She had the Psychedelic Furs “Heartbreak Beat” pumping into her Apple EarPods. She loves that band. Funny enough this song has special meaning to Marc. He experienced many firsts, whether they be in camp, college or elsewhere with that tune playing.
She jogged right into the front door. Ann was there. The two hugged. She asked if she was allowed to tell Jerry he was going home with her in 10 days. Ann told her to keep it quiet. She could tell him soon enough. Both of them had medical exams. Both were fine. Anat was able to hide her powers during the tests. She planned on testing Jerry. She knew about his dad’s mischievous powers. Jerry smiled and jumped into her arms. Tears fell from her eyes. Ann was leaving the center to go buy brownies for a child’s birthday party. For some reason, the bakery was usually out of them. She hoped she’d get lucky and they’d be in stock.
As she walked out Jay who had been camped out on the roof for days jumped down and knocked her onto the ground. She screamed. He punched her in the mouth. She was bleeding. A security guard heard her yells and came out. He punched Jay, who laughed. One of the center’s physicians came out and started to treat Ann.
Anat was still inside playing games with Jerry. His friends were watching. She wondered if he’d miss them. She didn’t want him to go back here. But she wanted him to still see these kids. She knew they formed a special bond. She kissed him goodbye and headed toward the exit. She saw a commotion going on out front and heard sirens. She saw Ann on the ground bleeding. She saw a security guard being beaten up. Then her eyes opened wide and she saw Jay.
As usual, she was dressed in all black. The corridor where she was standing was painted black. She clung to the wall. She opened her hands and fired raisins and dates at Jay. She hit him in the head. But he didn’t stop. He punched the security guard again. The sounds of the sirens were getting nearer. But not fast enough. Anat had no clue if it was the NYPD or EMTs. She hoped for EMTs. She could handle Jay.
No one noticed her. They were too focused on the chaos outside. She kept firing dried fruit. Jay took a step back when the giant raisin nailed him in the eye. He fired glass into the air.
Anat deflected it with prunes. She added figs into the mix. She knew she was on her own. Marc and Alana were going out to Reno to meet Marc’s best friend’s old roommate. This guy spends his time between Reno and the Bronx. Anat kept firing. She aimed for Jay’s eyes.
He was bleeding out of his mouth and nose. People started to go back into the center. She figured the cops would come to file a report. They must be on their way. Dan was off today. She didn’t want to bother him.
She looked at Jay from a distance and fired some more. She hit him in the back of his neck. He started to run.
Yesterday, I served as an NYC poll worker in Forest Hills High School, located on Ramones Way.
It was my inauguration to being an official poll worker. My experience in working elections goes way back.
I grew up on Staten Island. Nearly three decades ago, I spent many years in politics. I worked for a former NYC Council Member and mayor. I served on many winning and a few losing elections.
I am sure my readers remember the old school voting machines. I miss those. A day or two before Election Day we would go to the Staten Island NYC Board of Elections District office to inspect the machines. We went in with a bulldog of an inspector. We looked at each machine. We checked to see if the ballots were installed correctly and the machine’s levers worked. Of course, we found mistakes, which were corrected.
Jumping ahead
My dad and some of his friends served as poll workers in Plant City, Fla. I used to tease him and his festive gang. They served with pleasure. Last September, I applied to be a poll worker. I was selected to do the training course at the Queens Board of Elections office.
I arrived for my class. The other trainees and I were ushered in and seated. The trainer said we are all here for the poll worker training class, right? We said yes. She began to give out paperwork. A woman seated to the left of me got confused. She asked where she could get an absentee ballot. That is what she came for. There are signs in the building that direct you to the floor for that and to the training room. The instructor told her to go to the tenth floor. She remained seated. The class started. Several minutes into the class she again asked about an absentee ballot. She was escorted to the elevator and told to go to the tenth floor.
The class went on for about three hours. I took the test and got 100%. We are supposed to get $100 for taking the class regardless of pass or fail on the test. The caveat is you only get paid for the training class if you are selected to work the election and you work. Not fair. If I wasn’t selected, I feel I should have still gotten the $100. I agreed to work if asked. It was not I saying I would not work.
A few weeks later, I was assigned to Forest Hills High School. That’s a five-minute walk from my residence. I was happy to be placed at this poll site. I was expecting to see Sheena or Cecelia. I didn’t. But I felt sedated by the end of the day. I had to get that out. FYI — The Ramones and Simon and Garfunkel graduated from this fine institution. Captain Kangaroo and the founder of Woodstock, too.
My assignment was a scanner inspector. Over the years, in Fla., my dad was both an inspector and a deputy. He has been gone for over six years. Somewhere I have his poll worker badges. I looked around my apartment. I could not locate them. I wanted to keep them in my pocket while I worked.
Yesterday, at 5 a.m. eastern, I arrived at the poll. I went to the cafeteria and was told to stand near “scanner D.” I received the police envelope and went to work. I was only a scanner inspector for about 10 minutes. I did notice that the red police seals on my scanner didn’t match what was printed in the envelope for my scanner. People at other scanners noticed similarly. The election coordinator told us not to worry about it. During the training, we were told everything had to match.
A woman came over and said I had to leave the scanner. Someone else was going to take care of it. She gave me a bag of face shields. I was told to distribute. I did. Then I was assigned Election District (ED) 44/ Assembly District (AD) 28 as a table inspector. Two friendly women worked with me. They were in charge of scanning in voters. I gave out the ballots.
Thankfully at the table next to me was a gentleman from a shul I once attended. It was his 12th Election Day. He’s a super guy and was very helpful. I was hoping we would be working together.
The table workers got the iPads ready to scan in voters. We set up ballots and waited for the clock to strike 6 a.m. It did. Our coordinator yelled, “Polls are open.”
Working the day from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. was a great learning experience. Including, the training, the salary is a total of $350. We must break down the day into different categories. There are many. However, ballots, how to vote, the use of an iPad, and language ability are key to hone in on.
Ballots
Queens is the most diverse of the five boroughs. So our ballots were all printed in English. Bengali, Chinese, Hindi and Korean were included on the ballots. For example, you had a ballot where the top was written in English. The bottom was written in one of the aforementioned languages. My poll place had Chinese and Korean ballots.
When we check people in we had to note on the iPad, which they received. We told people not to worry. We had one English speaking Chinese man complain he received a Korean ballot. He made us void it and asked for a Chinese one. He expressed his loud dismay over receiving the Korean ballot. We had an English speaking Chinese woman receive a Korean ballot. She looked at us. She was told she could receive a Chinese ballot. She smiled. She said, “I am fluent in Chinese, English and Korean. I don’t care.” She walked off and voted.
How to vote?
Many people had no understanding of how to vote. Here’s the trouble we encountered.
We signed in a woman. I had handed her ballot. She said, “What’s this?” I said, “your ballot.” She thought she already voted because she was signed in. We had to explain to her to fill out the ballot and place it in the scanner. This took several minutes. She still didn’t seem to get that signing in wasn’t casting her vote
One woman came in saying she speaks Spanish and kept mumbling Espanol. We had Spanish-speaking poll workers. They spoke Spanish to her. She stared at them. She had no idea what they said. She went onto say her coat color is her party. And told how us she graduated from Forest Hills High School in 1974 and has been voting there since. She was given a ballot. She had no idea what it was. A poll worker had to explain how to vote and pretty much read it to her. Then she went on to say she’s written many books and continued to mumble about her Spanish fluency
One man didn’t have his scan card. We asked him the first three letters of his first and last names. He stood there. A minute or two later he cackled out the letters. We told him to sign. He picked up the stylus and said I have to sign. He started praising the L-rd, the holy father, mother and others. Eventually, he signed in
Some didn’t understand that you can only vote for a candidate once. Many candidates were cross-endorsed by several parties. People thought they had to vote for them in each party. They were told not to before going to vote. We voided many ballots. New ones were issued
One lady asked if she could vote for anyone she wants. We said yes.
Use of an iPad
You may remember during prior years, you went to the table for your ED and signed a book and was handed your ballot. Due to Covid safety precautions, this has changed. You still went to your ED/AD table to sign in to retrieve a ballot. However, you now signed in on an iPad. The NYC BOE mailed out scan cards to registered voters. They asked you to bring them to your poll to help with sign-in.
Thankfully, many voters remembered to bring the cards. The iPads scanned the voter’s information right in. For those who forgot it or didn’t receive it, we looked people up by name. Once we found your name, you were told to take an instrument that served as a traditional pen and stylus. You were told to use the stylus section to sign your name. Your signature must match how you filled out your election registration.
Once signed your ID card signature popped up. We did many re-signings. People do change their sigs from years ago. Several weren’t on file. We had forms for that.
Here’s more of trouble we encountered.
Many people tried to use their own pen or opened the stylus pen and dug into the iPad to sign. They were instructed on how to sign
Lefties said they couldn’t properly sign. I’m a southpaw. I did it and my official signature came right up
Some people didn’t understand how to sign on a tablet. In this day and age, how could you not? When you pay by credit card in Duane-Reade, Key Food and countless other merchants you sign a tablet with a stylus. Strange
Language Ability
Many languages are heard in Forest Hills. This includes but is not limited to Chinese, Hebrew, Russian, Yiddish and even a little English. The most common language you hear is Russian. There is a growing Asian population. But right now there are more people of Russian background. There are plenty of shops on 108 Street where everything is written that way. The BOE had Chinese and Korean interpreters sitting at the front table. I did not see anyone ask for them. For the most part, the interpreters spent their day conversing in English and eating junk food.
We had a woman at my table. She asked for a Russian interpreter. None were hired. What did we do? We told the election coordinator. She asked someone to look around the room and see if they could ID Russian looking people to see if they could help this voter. She did get to vote. In a heavy Russian speaking neighborhood, why were no Russian interpreters hired? Who knows? Perhaps it was political. Perhaps it was not.
In addition to the above, we encountered several folks who were not registered but claimed they were. We had them fill out affidavit ballots. Word on the street is that those are recorded and thrown in the trash. We had people who vote elsewhere. Some should have voted in a school a few blocks away. Some should have voted in Nassau County. But they all swore Forest Hills High School was their polling place. In many cases it was their polling place a decade ago.
The clock struck 9 p.m. The last few voters shuffled in. They voted. We closed the polls and cleaned up.
There is a lot to learn from this day. We need people voting. But we need them to understand the process. The BOE has to up its game and have qualified people for the EDs it serves.
Dan was doing much better since Jay’s attack. He was back at work and everything was fine. Anat had to have child services come to inspect her residence to see if it was a suitable place for Jerry. The child services worker wanted to live there. She loved the granite kitchen, the original hardwood floors, the stainless steel Viking appliances, wine cellar and the original artwork. She had several hand-carved artsy buckets from Safed placed around her home.
The inspector said her place was fine. He even noted the three large sized bathrooms. Anat already bought a few stools to place by the sink so Jerry could wash his hands after he used the facility. She thought of everything.
Dan came over after work. Anat cooked steamed Dover sole Francese. She opened a bottle of Shiloh wine. All was well. Dan spent the night. Anat was so happy. They let the vocals of John Lydon set the mood.
This evening was much better than a few of her drunken stupors at Stanford with her occasional study buddy. That guy was now doing quite well as a hedge fund manager. As an economics major, she occasionally chatted with future Hall of Famer Mike Mussina. She even watched him pitch for the Stanford Cardinal Baseball team. The two were in many of the same classes. She always liked him.
The next morning Dan woke up and got bagels. Anat checked her email while he was at the store. She saw an encrypted email from Child Services. She typed in the password and verified it. She got Jerry. She jumped up and down. She was excited. There was some paperwork to process. But he could move in two weeks. She was so happy she started to crank Joy Division.
The doorman called to buzz up Dan. Dressed in her new black Eileen Fisher crewneck dress she waited at the elevator’s door. She jumped on top of him as he exited. Dan suspected she got the great news by her excitement. She smiled and kept kissing him. She then told him about the email. He was happy. They walked into her eat-in-kitchen. Anat had coffee and juice waiting. Dan loved his coffee. Anat couldn’t stand it. They finished breakfast. Dan went to the precinct. Anat went to the child services center. Jay was waiting on the roof.
It was a perfect fall day at Central Park’s Great Lawn. Alana arrived very early. She staked out her ground. She put blue and pink blankets six feet apart. Tzipora didn’t find out the sex of her baby. She wanted to be surprised. Didn’t make a difference for gifts. These days most people just gave Amazon gift cards for everything. Therefore, she could buy whatever she wanted when the kid came. She and Eran already chose names. He was all for the surprise, too. No arguments from him.
Stacey was helping Alana. Stacey was still seeing the guy she met a few months ago. She was happy. The ladies assembled on the lawn. Eran and Tzipora walked by the Great Lawn as she walked by she heard the ladies call her name. She stopped so fast she almost tripped over her own two feet. She started blushing. Eran kissed her and said he’d be back later. Trizpora marched over to the center pink and blue blanket and sat down.
Alana brought out the picnic baskets. Hummus and falafel were served with fresh-squeezed juices. There were fruit platters. They even included dates, apricots and raisins. Alana asked Anat about those. The Bumpboxx was playing a mix of Israeli music, Joy Division, Television, the Ramones and Ultravox. All were smiling.
Marc was perched up in a tree. Alana is the only one who knew he was there. He was ready to be a sniper or jump down and attack Jay if the occasion arose.
The ladies told old stories about Tzipora and were so excited she was about to enter motherhood. As usual, Alana was depressed. But she smiled. She knew she’d never have a kid. She was even hoping that Anat got Jerry. Things were looking good in that direction.
Alana knew her mission was to provide protection and be with Marc. The two of them haven’t fought each other for so long. We know how close they are. We‘ve witnessed several of their fights. But those seem to be done. The two couldn’t be closer.
Alana went to the cooler in her car and brought out the baby-shaped ice cream cake. She cut it up and put it on top of brownies. She served coffee and tea. She had plenty of milk for those who took their beverages with it.
All was still quiet.
Jay was lurking around the Central Park Boathouse. He was wounded from his fight with Anat, Marc and Alana. But was getting ready for an attack.
Jerry’s been living in the child services shelter for months. He’s been treated well. But it is like solitary confinement. He does play with the other kids in the center’s playroom. But he rarely gets out of the building. Once he played in the garden area. He likes gardens.
As part of her evaluation, Anat had to take him to the park. Ann was with them. No one was allowed to take a child out on their own. Too much of a risk. Things were going well. Jerry ran right to the slidin’ pond. He slid up and down for what seemed like hours.
Alas, it was only 15 minutes. Anat pushed him on the swings. Ann stayed in the background. He heard the jingling of the ice cream truck. His eyes lit up and he had the widest smile. Anat wasn’t sure if she should buy him a cone. Of course, she did. Jerry got it all over his face and clothes. Like a good mom, Anat pulled some paper towels out of her Fendi bag and cleaned him up.
Then he screamed he had to go potty. Anat took him to the lady’s room. She made sure he wiped and washed his hands. While this was going on, Ann a few park benches away reading a book on her Fire. As they exited the bathroom, all seemed well.
Jerry ran back to the swings. As they approached he was hit with pieces of glass. He screamed. Anat shielded him. Ann was so nose deep into her reading she heard nothing. Anat was scared. She was doing so well. She finally had her life in order. She was dating and people liked her. She would stop at nothing to lose this. But she didn’t want anyone to know of her powers.
But she had no choice. She saw Jay sprinting towards her and Jerry. She unleashed an onslaught of dates. She followed with apricots. She held back on her mightiest weapon, the raisin. But she knew she’d have to unleash those.
Jay was knocked down. But he got right up. Jerry was clinging to Anat. He started screaming. He said he can’t go back to Jay. He kept yelling how daddy hits him and punched his mom. Then he said his mom wasn’t much better to him. He started to shake. He fell down.
Anat unleashed the raisins. People were fleeing the park. Normally the nut jobs would be standing there with their phones snapping photos. But the fighting was so intense. People were getting caught in the crossfire of glass and dried fruit. Blood was everywhere.
Ann was jolted out of her reading when a piece of glass hit her Fire. She pushed it off and looked around. She saw a once full park now empty. She saw pieces of glass and dried fruit flying through the air. She saw Jerry standing by the bathroom grabbing Anat’s leg. She saw Anat waving her arms. She prayed they were okay.
She saw Jay charging at them. She jumped up.
Dust got into her eyes. She started scratching them. She shut momentarily shut them.
Anat unleashed the raisins. She nailed Jay in the head. She fired again at his shoulders. He went down.
She prayed her texts were answered. Out of nowhere came Marc and Alana. They were standing over Jay firing away with their weapons.
Anat saw Ann. She and Jerry ran toward them.
Alana called the police. She kicked Jay several times. Marc got down on top of Jay and started punching him.
Jerry smiled at Ann and told her how much he loved Anat. He said she was more of a mommy than his own.
Anat was ready. Nervous she was. She spent all night tossing and turning. But she wanted Jerry. She got up early and went running. Her runs always calmed her. She likes to run as early in the morning as she could. She took a shower, fixed her hair and decided to go without makeup. She wasn’t much of a makeup girl anyway. She logged into Skype and waited to be let in. Three people were waiting for her. She always hated this situation. She was a strong believer that a one on one interview via video or in person was all that was needed. Schedule others if need be. They asked her several basic questions about her work and schooling. They already had her tax returns. So they need she was more than capable of taking care of Jerry financially. Heck, she could easily take care of three-four children. They asked her about her social life. She was honest and said she didn’t have one. She mentioned she’s dating a member of the NYPD. But mostly works, runs and keeps to herself. The interview wrapped up. They gave her no indication of where she stood. Ann told Anat not to expect them to say anything. She put Joy Division onto iTunes and started to stretch. Meanwhile, Alana was preparing Tzipora’s shower. She hoped the weather would hold up. She decided she would do it on Central Park’s Great Lawn. She bought 10 beach blankets and would space them out. She would sneak some homemade wine into thermoses for the ladies. She ordered some food and prayed that next Sunday the weather would be warm. Alana made a few calls to the attendees. Then she went out. She noticed broken glass was all over the concrete near her residence. She kept her eyes wide open and text Marc. She even texted Anat to inquire about her interview.
The holidays ended. Marc was taking down his sukkah. He and Alana decided to live in it during Sukkot. He has a friend who lives in his year round. Things went fine. The weather was great and there were no attacks from Jay. All’s been quiet. Anat just got an email from child’s services. They want her to do a Zoom interview to talk about her getting Jerry. She was so excited. She spoke to Ann, who briefed her on how to handle it. Anat did some Googling and felt she’d be ready. She was counting the days. She had 8 to go. She hoped things stayed quiet.
Jerry was doing as well as he could be doing in the children’s shelter. His mom was still in prison. His dad should be. But he escaped twice.
Anat figured she’d have her hair done the night before. It is amazing what the last few months have done to her. She went from being a total loner, who never bathed and started fights with people and hacked into various events to cause disruption. All of a sudden she cleaned herself up. Imagine if Jerry was never left behind in the park and she never rescued him?
Who knows what havoc she’d yield. Of course, she is still capable of total darkness. But for the time being, chose only to use it when needed and to help. Tzipora was almost due. Alana was planning the baby shower. As usual, Alana was depressed she wasn’t married or having a baby. But she knew it wasn’t in the plan. Strange enough Alana would even plan Anat’s shower if she got Jerry. She hoped she did. She watched an amazing change.
Tzipora still liked Alana. But was faithful to soon to be dad, Eran. Jen’s baby was getting bigger. She also knew what was going on with Anat. She felt good. She knew she was mean to her in camp. But Anat was a strange bird before she got there and left even stranger.
Anat’s needed recommendations to get Jerry. Ann wrote an amazing letter. That helped seal the deal for the interview. Anat did get one from her boss. She is an amazing worker. Her office does think she’s bizarre. But she was the one you could count on. She was there Mariano. But Anat would likely enter to Bauhaus and not Metallica. Funny, Alana would, too. For all the fighting those two did they are very similar people.
Meanwhile, Jay was in Macombs Damn park training on the outdoor gym. He liked to train on the grounds of the old Yankee Stadium.
He was all alone. He was getting ready for something.
Everyone sat at Anat’s table for the holiday meal. Marc led a great dinner service.
Naturally, pomegranates, wine and dates were served. Dan was enjoying himself. Alana poured a lot of wine. She shared with everyone. Marc smiled as he passed around the pomegranates. Anat enjoyed her dates.
Dan knew these items were part of the High Holiday meals. But something clicked in his head when he saw the fervor in which his dinner companions were eating these delicacies. He remembered the reports about Jay. He knew there was a mention of these items being near him when he went down. Dan put on his detective’s cap. Then wrote it off as him being silly. Thousands of people around the globe were excited to eat and drink the same stuff.
Dinner ended. Alana and Marc walked to Alana’s aunt. Dan hung around a little longer and went home. The two lovebirds were waiting. Anat was getting ready to repent and hope she’s granted Jerry after the holidays conclude.
Jay was moping around the city. He was in pain from his earlier fight. It was three against one. Not fair. He had to get Jerry and test him. He knew Anat would try to do the same. So would her crazy friends.
The fast day arrived. Marc and Alana sat apart from each other in their Forest Hills shul. They had no desire to be there. They ate a lot of special food to get through the fast. The recipes came from two of Marc’s camp friends. One is gone. But he always put special attention to all of his holiday meals. The other adds his own special touches to his delicacies.
The services went on. Neither of the two was hungry. They were not paying attention. But knew they had to be there. They still believed. And they wanted to. But they were moving away. They’ve done this before.
Anat spent the day in her shul. It has been years since she attended. Dan joined her. She looked at him with happy eyes from the ladies’ section.
Rosh Hashanah starts tonight. For the first time in years, Anat wasn’t going to spend it alone. In fact, she was a planning a meal to be held on the roof of her building. She asked Dan to come. She invited Alana and Marc. They were going to come and stay at Anat’s aunt’s after dinner. The two of them are still on their on and off again belief system. They questioned everything. And demanded proof for it all.
Dan was discharged from the hospital a few days ago. He was on the mend and doing well. He was not observant and never really did much for the holidays. So he was excited to see it done the real way.
Marc and Alana arrived. They supplied the wine, apples, pomegranates and honey. Anat supplied the dates. She got the fish head.
Anat was hoping for a sweet new year. After the holidays were over she’d check on her application to get Jerry. Dan arrived to the roof early. He sat down and relaxed.
Marc and Alana were heading over to Anat’s. Their eyes were wide open. They got closer to Anat’s. As they approached her building, they were pelted with glass. Alana fired back wine. She’s been practicing. She now fired faster and with more force than water coming out of a fire hose. Marc nailed Jay with honey. Anat heard screams while she was taking the challah out of the oven. This was the first time she baked one. She figured the only screams would be hers when she burned it. She looked out the window and saw what was going on. She opened it and started firing apricots and raisins. She was too scared that Dan would come down from the roof to help her with the meal. She told him just to sit there and rest.
Jay went down when he was hit in the head with a raisin. Alana walked over and kicked him in the head several times. Marc dialed 911 and the two entered the building.
Alana was roaming the streets. Why? We don’t know. Lou Reed was cranking out Marc’s Macbook. Anat went to visit Dan. He was still in the hospital. But doing much better. He expected to be discharged tomorrow.
The two chatted. She brought him a dish of dried fruit. She probably shouldn’t have. Dan heard the story of how after Jay attacked him, other officers found him knocked out. The officers didn’t see how he went down. But saw lots of raisins and pomegranates around his body.
Jay remembers reading the report from the Narrowsburg police that mentioned similar items. But also mentioned puddles of wine. No wine this time. Dan noshed on the apricots and raisins. He was happy to see Anat. She promised him dinner when he was up to it. They blew kisses and she left.
Anat was a little nervous about the police reports. She texted her concerns to Alana. When Alana received the text she was buying milk.
Alana read the text. That’s the first thing she told Marc when she got to his residence.
While the three were fretting, Jay was being transferred from the local prison to a state facility.
As the officers were escorting him to the prison bus he started firing glass at the tires. Three were blown out. The officers raised their weapons. Jay shot glass at their hands. Several of the officers dropped their guns. Jay while still chained up began to run. He was shooting glass as he moved forward.
The officers chased him. He was firing glass. An officer opened fire. The bullet ricocheted off the glass and hit a tree.
Jay used sharp glass to break cut through his shackles. He picked up the speed he had when was a star high school football player. Bullets and glass flew.
Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc. 