Alphabetism

I had no idea that this was an issue until I went to vote this morning. I knew that racists and sexists were still a part of our society, but had no idea that as Americans we still discriminated in this way, it was a real eye opening experience. When I arrived to my polling station I saw a line stretching out into the parking lot. I stepped in the back of the line and pulled out my blackberry to settle in for a long wait. Then I heard someone mentioned that the line was for last names M-Z. So i walked around the corner to try and find the line for A-L and after walking past over 70 people in the M-Z line, i found a very short line for the first half of the alphabet. Those with the unfortunate burden of a last name starting with M-Z had been waiting for over a hour to get to where I was in the A-L line. How on earth was it possible for there to be such a dichotomy in this day and age in our free society? "All men were created equal," right? The very fact that this type of discrimination and alphabetism still is a part of our country enrages me. People can't help the last name they were born with any more than they can help their gender or race. After waiting for only ten minutes to cast my vote, I felt guilty as I walked past those still waiting in the M-Z line. The hurt in their eyes of knowing that because of something that they can't change, they were being punished, it was almost too much for me to bear. I guess we really are still living in Two Americas.