(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Unbelievable, nearly fainted just now at the polling place. Be careful out there, please! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-18 Nothing like this ever before. The temp was "only" 93° F at 3:00 p.m., but with humidity about 47%, the heat index amounted to 99,° according to NOAA readout. The sun shone bright, with a few clouds. I'd just been for a swim at the local public pool. Came home, changed, and headed for the nearby elementary school to vote in today's primary. The only thing on the ballot is one local race for a single county council seat. The winner of the D primary almost certainly wins the general...and there are five D contenders. Ranked-choice voting has made it a little more complex. I dilly-dallied deciding until last night. So it's hot in the car, but I'm driving all of five minutes to the school (in a tiny hybrid, please don't yell at me), parking, voting and heading out on another errand. There will be no line. Easy peasy. The only volunteer out front, promoting a candidate, waves to me where he's standing under a tree. I walk over just to be friendly and thank him for his dedication. Turns out we are fairly near neighbors and have some experiences and concerns in common, including environmental issues. It's a nice conversation, maybe 15 minutes, and then… ...All of a sudden I'm very dizzy and it feels like my heart has taken up jazz dancing. "I'm not well," I managed to blurt out, "I have to get inside, it's the heat." Just concentrating on not collapsing to the pavement. I make it inside the doors and the 30 feet or so to the gym where we vote. Not quite as far as the check-in table. I lean on the wall. Someone asks if I'm ok, and I have to say no, and ask to borrow a folding chair. Our poll workers are always the best, and this time beyond that. They not only shifted a folding chair from behind the table, but asked if I needed water, which to my surprise, I did. One lady insisted that I drink from her personal water bottle (which she explained had not been used). I hadn't realized I was dehydrated, but need a full pint of water to recover. Sat there about 10 minutes. There were IIRC five poll workers. No other voters came in. For some reason we got talking about Dad jokes and kids' reactions to them. I shared an example of an "elephant joke" (fashionable in my youth); no one found it funny. Well, I guess it is funny that what was hilarious in 1966 is merely a head-scratcher in 2024. ;-) We all agreed that no one wants voting in a local primary to be their last act on this earth! Though one worker said some early voters volunteer that they are motivated to get their ballot in ahead of time in case they die. Yeah, we take our elections seriously and are the bluest or maybe second bluest county in the state. Eventually felt marginally ok, literally trembling but able to fill in my ballot and feed it into the reader. Mission accomplished, cancelled errands for the rest of the afternoon. Made it home ok. More water. Still lying on the bed now, with a rectangle of blue ice resting on my tshirt. Basically ok but not 100% ok, if you know what I mean. Mildly woozy. I've had heat stress before, and even heat exhaustion a couple of times. This was a whole new level. Verging towards heat stroke? Maybe my age, in part. Aging, it seems, involves a series of successive recognitions that we're not invulnerable any more. ;-) But genuinely scary. How fast it was. If there hadn't been help? What if it had been really hot? Like Texas hot? If I'd been stuck in a queue, especially in one of those jurisdictions where they've made it illegal to give water to voters standing in line? (And WTF would Jesus say about that charming rule, Christian extremists, and btw I wonder what would a jury say about manslaughter if someone freaking dies, waiting to vote in the heat? And how about that Governor DeSatan -- prohibiting local governments from requiring that outdoor workers in this heat simply be provided with water?) All, please don't be complacent like me because it's "just a few minutes" and "not that hot" (D.C. area has in fact seen such temps most summers, at least for a short spell). Be tactical. Carry water. Never be all alone in extreme temps. Stay safe out there. ❤ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/18/2247344/-Unbelievable-nearly-fainted-just-now-at-the-polling-place-Be-careful-out-there-please?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/