The six or seven people who were there, however, were a microcosm of Riverwest: A few white folks, a few black folks, a college-aged girl with spiky hair and an older lady with a dog on a leash. (Throw in a yuppie condo dweller and the Michoacan ice cream man and you'd have the neighborhood in a nutshell.)

Even though originally I wanted to vote without my son, I was happy to use the experience to tell him about the importance of voting. And actually, I think he had fun. Although slightly bummed that I wouldn't let him "color" on the ballot with the nubby pencil, he dug feeding my ballot into the big machine and the free sticker.

I was relieved to see 204 people voted before us -- and it was only 9 a.m. Hopefully Riverwest will live up to its politically-active reputation, and will do its part to pull the pendulum towards "No."