You're Right To Vote

In today's episode, You're Right To Vote (yes You're is correct) I talk with my close friend Jessica Buchman about the importance of voting no matter what and her campaign, Voice Your Vote which brings voting and voter registration awareness.

Cocktail: Swing State Spritzer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Welcome back to Making a Martini. I am your host, Caleb Figgles. I hope everyone is having just a magical fucking day. Such an abrasive way to start the episode. Okay, so today is November 2nd. I mean not right now for me, but for you listening, today is November 2nd. Which means that it is Election Day's Eve. So I hope everyone is feeling I don't really know what I'm feeling, to be honest. Uh I'm excited. I'm scared. I've had just nervous diarrhea for the past three days thinking about it. Um but it's it's finally here. And I thought a lot about what I wanted this episode to be because I knew it was dropping the day before the election. And quite honestly, I'm sure that with all of the election talk happening and after that pitiful both those pitiful debates and just all the bullshit flying around this election that I would take a step back and talk about voting. Because I'm sure you all aren't getting enough of that anyway. Uh but I'm not gonna act like some sort of ad or a robocall or text from whomever. Which, by the way, side story, I accidentally did answer one of those calls because I thought it was my delivery driver from Grubhub because sometimes people just want slash need some shaky nuggets. And I answered it, and it was this guy with um one of the names of the multiple groups that are asking people to vote. And it was very clear that uh this guy was new because he kept apologizing when he was asking me this series of questions that like everyone's getting asked, like the do you plan on voting for Biden? How are you going to vote? Do you have a ride, etc.? Uh which I mean I appreciate all of those questions. I really, really do. And um at the end of it he said, Thanks for sticking through that with me. You're the first person who hasn't hung up. Which I said, damn, that's awful. You know, like I'm sorry that's been happening to you. Uh but I asked him if he'd ever done like any of this like robocall thing before. And he said no. And I asked him why he was, and he said, I I just don't know if I would be okay. Uh like like I don't know I don't remember exactly what he said. It was something along the lines of he didn't know if he'd be okay if he didn't do everything he could for this election because it was just too important. And man, that that hit me. That hit me hard. It was um I mean it was a good feeling. I I was really, really glad that I accidentally answered his call. Uh and I I hope that gave him a little boost of confidence to keep calling because I know that's gotta suck. I mean, it's almost like um dealing with the worst of customer service. And me personally, I hate talking on the phone, so I know I'm an asshole. And I was so nice to him, so I can only imagine what the rest of the world's like. Uh but all right, well, my chili's done. So I don't even know if you'll hear that, but I just heard it and now I'm excited. Um anyway, I digress. What the fuck was I talking about? Oh, little voting. So this episode is about voting, the importance of voting, why people should vote, etc. This week's guest is a good friend of mine, Jessica Buckman, who has her own brand called One Minute, which she talks about in the episode, and that has ultimately led to a virtual campaign that her and her friends started called Voice Your Vote. Um, which we also talk about. And it was essentially a virtual campaign to get people to register to vote, which is super, super awesome. It's you know, what we need right now or needed it's November 2nd. So, I mean you can't really register right now in Pennsylvania. But hopefully you did. Um it was you know, her and her and I we just had a really good conversation. And it's not just like a fuck Trump or fuck Biden episode. It's it it's it's it's just good. Okay, so just listen to it. The themed cocktail this week is called a swing state spritzer, which is hard to say, but uh here's to you, Pennsylvania. Um, which is made up two parts skinny girl bare-naked vodka, which I just used the vodka that I had, but because I wasn't gonna go out and get by that. So I cheated, okay? I fucking cheated. I'm a fraud, alright? So just get over it. So two parts vodka, five muddled blueberries, a dash of grenadine, mix all of that together, add a splash of club soda on top, and let's give it a little try here. Wow, fuck that's good. Okay. You know what? I'm going back to bartending. This whole like workforce thing is not working out, and I can make things like that. Not that I invented it, I stole it off the internet. Okay, well, let's let's let's get this episode going. So here we go. Typing hello, so that's why it's always offered, you know. So I just go, hey Jess.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Hi.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

How are you?

SPEAKER_02 5:43

I'm doing so well. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 5:46

I am phenomenal. I am, you know, we've got what five days? Wait, one, two, three, four days. Four days until the election.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Yeah, it's crazy it's here already. Like this year has actually gone by so fast.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

I know, like considering how everything has been so far, you'd think this would have been the slowest year ever, but it really is. I mean, I maybe it probably is really slow for some people. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Yeah, it's probably slow, but then it's also like I feel like it's like hurry the F up and just like 2021, like, where are you? Like, please hurry up.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Please get here. Or I've just been blacking out. Maybe that's it too. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Blacking out, sleeping the days away. Like, I just yeah, I didn't even know today was Friday, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

So I I feel like I hit a point with this whole corona thing that people hit months ago where they didn't under they they didn't know what day it was, everything like that. Like I was always very aware, but now it's at the point, like I have four calendars in my house because I need to like look at them to reference. I mean, I know it's on my phone, but I don't even know where I guess it says on the home screen. Whatever. Jess and I used to work together at a tech company that I don't know if I can say the name of.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Probably not. So probably not, but if you have us on LinkedIn, then you can check it out there.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yeah. Um, there's only so many. Yeah. It doesn't really matter. Um, but we have uh a fun episode planned out. Um, and we are talking about voting and the right to vote because we are so close to election day, and this episode is dropping on November 2nd, so the day before. So I thought that it was really important for us to talk about voting. And you have a whole campaign dedicated to voting that stemmed from your um your company, essentially, right? Company is company the right word? Brand, maybe brand.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Brand, brand, hopefully a company one day.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

That would be so cool. Awesome for you. Um, but that brand is called One Minute. Um just give me, oh, give me, can't give me and us a a little background on one minute and how you got to voice your vote.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah, so one minute, um, wow, okay, such a journey it's been like literally since I was a junior or senior in college. Um, I co-founded an organization and basically we created an app. Well, I created an app because you know, nerds status here. Um, created an app that, sorry, don't want to make you joke on your drink there. Um, but we created an app that allowed you to pair with different mentors in the area. And it was designed for students that were about to graduate knowing that they had a path, but it was just like, do they want to do something with their lives? Do they not want to do something? And so we curated this, you know, questionnaire and say you were interested in like three topics, but none of them really like coincide with each other. It would filter out the questions that weren't really like for you. And once you finish that questionnaire, it would pair you with a mentor in your area. So super cool. Like I was, you know, into tech, I was into business, I was had a love for event planning. So it kind of found me somebody that did all three of those. And so I like felt really good about it. And the whole questionnaire was a minute long. So I was like, this one minute is literally about to like decide my life for me. Okay, cool. And then I found a love, a second love for acting and modeling, which has like been amazing for me. Like I could talk days about it, um, but I won't right now.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

She, her magazine just came, not her magazine, but her layout in a magazine just came out, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

So no big deal, but no big deal, but my first magazine's for I literally got it today and I sat and I just cried a little bit, and I was like, okay, like this is real. Like I did the damn thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Like you did the damn thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

I did the damn thing. Um, but where did I leave off?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, no, no, no, it's okay. It's just a long day, you know.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

I'm I'm a physical.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

It's totally okay. Um, so I um as I began acting and modeling, everything seemed to be a minute. Like I had a minute to, you know, do a monologue, I had a minute to tell the director about myself, I had a minute to walk down the runway, and I was like, what the heck is the deal with this one minute? And so I was like, I want to make a positive change for other people, you know. I was given my one minute so many times, and also not so many times, you know, but I had that one minute to make a difference, so I want to have I want to give other people their one minute to make a difference, and that's how I founded one minute. So I team up with a bunch of like creatives and like local artists and graphic designers and everything, and like you could imagine, like I want to share your name, your story, your voice. Like I want you to be heard. And so I've done a couple different campaigns for one minute, like I've done, you know, Black Lives Matter, mental health campaign, which is something super dear to my heart. Um, I did one on Women's History Month. Um, so then when I was like, what can I do for voter registration? Because, you know, like I grew up in a household that was, you know, despite the party, like we were super liberal. Like my parents, you know, made sure I had a voice, knew how important it was to vote, knew how important it was to get your voice out there to be heard. Um, so I was like, how can I bring that same energy that I grew up with that I was so lucky to have to other people that maybe don't know as much about it? So I was like, you know, I I could do a photo shoot, but you know what, that would get like 200, 300 views and then nothing after that. Like, that's not gonna be, that's not gonna make an impact.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

So um I called one of my like best friends that I've done event planning with and everything since freshman year of college, who God bless this girl because I will call her with like the wackiest shit. Can I say that shit?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

Yes, you can say shit.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Okay, the wackiest shit. I'm so happy I could say the three words. It's like my favorite word. Um and just be like, listen, like I have this idea. I don't know how I want to like develop it or what I want to do with it, but this is like my idea. Like for the food bank, whenever we raised money for that, I thought of that idea in 24 hours and she was like, You executed that perfectly. You didn't need my help. And I'm like, no, no, no, but like I did need your help. So I was like, Marisa, like, what can I do to bring awareness, to get people educated, to get that out there? And she was like, do one of your campaigns. And I was like, Okay, yeah, like you're exactly right. Like that's what we need to do. So that's how we came up with the idea for voice your vote to have it as a campaign. Um, we were very lucky to team up with some awesome Pittsburgh representatives, you know, for like the local creative area. We had um Nicole Lakovic, she had uh prepared the masks for us that we sold in a bundle with stickers that Abby Grace Jones, who owns Sheep Apery, designed. So we sold that bundle. It was$13, or I'm sorry,$15. And um all proceeds from that bundle and donations made went to Fair Vote, which I'm not sure if you're familiar with Fair Vote or not, but they're a local nonpartisan champion of electoral reforms. So basically they just give voters a chance to vote, um, a voice. And then one thing that I really loved was that they um, I think my voice is like going in and out. So I'm so sorry. I've been talking okay, just been answering phones. Um but they give access to individuals in low-income areas, so that was like one thing that stuck out to me like so much, and I was so appreciative of that. So, and they've been awesome like during all of this. So yeah, that's awesome. Just a little bit there.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

How did you get involved with them?

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Was it something that you went out and found or um yeah, um, Marisa actually, so she does a lot for her job, she's a digital like um marketer and has her own business with all that kind of stuff. So she's really great at like reaching out to these companies and her brands or nonprofits, and she found this one and she was like, they were so positive and so just overall about bringing awareness to voter registration, and even if you're not super familiar with it, there's so many resources on it. She was like, I think this would be the perfect one. And I was like, you know what, it seems like a good fit.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

So yeah, it was I went to um the website because it's linked on your uh voice your vote website, which is www.voicyourvote.net. Um and I'll put that in the episode. Um but I went to fairvote.org and it started in 1992 in Ohio. So thanks, Ohio.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Represent the OH.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

My town, except I didn't, I just lived there, I didn't come from there, but whatever. But um there's there's a lot of information out there. There's on or there's a a lot of information on their website, and there is a lot to read. Um and it's all it's all really, really cool things. I mean, they it and you're right, it's mostly about um reform legislation or and uh thing, but mostly dealing with fair representation, fair access, and fair elections, which is a pretty big topic right now. Yeah. Uh just cuz, you know. Um and my favorite thing that I saw on their website was they do this thing, um, or they they proposed this idea of having a pre registration for 16-year-olds. And um, and what is it? Seven states have actually enacted it, which I think is really cool. So they just start to get the paperwork and they get essentially everyone ready to register to vote when they're 16. When it like I I do remember like getting closer to the age of 18, I was like, all right, well, this is one of the big things I'm gonna have to do.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

And you know, then I hit 18 and I did it, and I was like, okay, well, I just I had just missed the election, so I was like, well, I guess I'll catch it next time. I'll catch it next time, I guess. Uh but um but it is really cool, and I think that's really uh a neat idea to get that enacted because when I was 16, that was one of the things that I was like, it's getting closer to the time where I get to do that. So I I just think that's really cool. So seven states have actually put that forward um through legislation, and two states have done a 17-year-old version of that, um, which is I just thought it was really, really cool.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Yeah. It's very interactive on their website. So like any type of resource, like they have blogs, they have there's um ranked voting, ranked choice voting, like why should we be voting? Why should we be doing like these things? And like the one thing that I loved was like there's like the where it's used. So like you can go and see like in your map, you can on the map you can look at like your specific state and like learn like statistics and everything about your state compared to like other ones, and it's just very informative. And the people that are part of Fair Vote like really took the time to educate and just some people aren't lucky enough to like learn about it in school, let alone just like have the resources to or know where to get the resources that everything is like politically correct, you know.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

So no, that's very, very true. I mean, I'll I'll be honest, like in my high school, we had God, what I don't even remember what year it was. Like we had like uh like social studies, um, and then we had like civics, and all of that is so much based in like the past, like when we learn about how we got to where we are, which is important, um, but we never really had anything that was about like registering to vote, talking about like the importance of voting. We talked about the importance of the history of voting and when women got the right to vote and when um you know different minorities got the right to vote. Um and I feel like that's something that they're like staples of high school like um curriculum, I guess is the right word. Like it's relevant, but it's like Yeah, I but I I've never heard of like a program that's been you know, I'm sure they exist, but I've never heard of it.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

I think my US history class I had, I don't remember what year. It was definitely in high school, but I want to say one of my US history classes like talked about voting and whatnot.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Like I wish I had taken like a history class. I don't think I took one my senior year because I didn't have to. But I'm like, that's when that shit starts to make starts to be important.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Like I wish I would have taken it then when I would have been interested.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Yeah, I think I I want to say it was like US history class. I had this great group of history teachers that I'm gonna make listen to this podcast because they were just they taught me so much. And I just recently had one of my great professor or my great teachers pass away, and he was a history teacher, but like they were so passionate about like voting and rights and everything. Like those are the teachers you need supporting you and teaching you about voting and educating you because man, if it wasn't for them or like my parents, I feel like I would be so lost in this world, yeah, especially with this kind of subjects.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

And and it it's it's so funny too, like that you bring that up. And I was just thinking, um, since we're talking about schools, so many of the previous episodes of this podcast have gone back to what gets taught in schools. Like my the second episode um talked about sex education and how that's determined by a school board. And um another one, we talked about Shakespeare and how they don't really teach the full ins and outs. So, like, here's Romeo and Juliet, it's a tragic love story, but they don't talk about all the dick jokes. Right. There are so many. And it it goes back to like, you know, what a school board says you are allowed to talk about, what they think is important. And I'm like, well, yeah, but if your school board is like 60-year-old pieces of shit who are like, well, back in my day we did this. I'm like, well, the times have changed, bitch. So get away.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

I mean, that was definitely where I went to college. It was very frowned upon to talk about certain topics because I went to a super Catholic private school where it was the sisters' way or no way. So I mean I love Seton Hill.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

I love where I went to school, but it was just there's there's there's politics, no yeah, there's politics with everything, and it's just everything, including.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

I'll come back for another show for that.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Yeah, yeah. So you would just well, you just mentioned um that what the reason that you really um gravitated toward those history professors because of how passionate they were. Um, and so for you, Jess, why is you know, you have a passion obviously for voting, because that's why you're here talking about your brand. Uh, but so why is why is voting important to you personally?

SPEAKER_02 21:25

I just think so, like everybody has a voice. It's just gonna depend on how you want to use it. You know, like there's just so many layers to each thing that we go through life. So, like with voting, so say you don't even know like all the topics. There's there's so much to even dive into, you know, you have like climate, you have rights, you have okay, I'm not even gonna get into you have all these things, right? Like in a bucket. You can pull them out, and like there's just so many of them.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

There's a lot of topics.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

So many topics. But it's just like I am one single person, and I think I take this, I think about it the same way I think about whenever I know what I wanna be in life. Like I wanna be an advocate, I wanna model, I wanna act, I wanna succeed with like making apps and stuff. Like I wanna be a di I wanna make a difference, I wanna make a change. And I feel like I've always been somebody that bel that has believed that. And I feel like I've executed it fair fairly well for being 25 and what I've accomplished so far. So voting to me is really just you know what you stand for, you know that you have a voice, you know you can make a change. So, like, why don't you get out there and like do something? And while you're doing it, like just educating other people. Like, it's so easy just to, you know, like I'm not gonna persuade you to go to one party to the other, and that's not what this campaign is about. It's really just about educating and bringing awareness. However, I'm going to state the facts of what's going on in this world and help you understand like right versus wrong or wrong versus right, you know, type of thing. Like, I'm not trying to push one thing on you, but like just educate and just like it's good to have like I love to debate, like I could debate all day and I like thank my parents for that. Like shout out to the Buckmans because I like like voting to me, like I know I'm kind of like rambling, but like voting to me is just you're so lucky to have that privilege to vote to make a change, to make a difference. And so, like, why not? Like, like, even if you don't know everything about voting, which I mean there's still things that I would, you know, love to learn. I can't sit all day and watch MSNBC like my mom, but like, um, and Daisy, our Democrat dog, but like it's fine. Um But like, I just pick one thing and like learn about it, and then like exercise your right, like you have that right to make a change, like just and it's like an entry, it's an entry-level way to make a difference, exactly. And like it's not hard, it's not hard, and like if you want to see a change happen, like you know, like doing this campaign, I learned a lot about like some of the people that we had asked, you know, people to send in videos like why it's important to vote, or you know, is this your first election, or did you vote before? And you know, I had a couple friends who said I was embarrassed to vote in the lot in the previous election. Like people made made it seem like it was dumb to vote, or that like my voice didn't matter, and it's you know, like if your voice doesn't matter, then like 2,500,000 other people, their voices don't matter either. But then like you want to see the change be the change, like you can't just sit back and like watch it happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Let it happen and then then be upset about it, and then be upset, exactly. You know, I was honestly, this is a note that I was saving for like my post, but I think it just flows so so well. So I think that the idea of thinking that your vote doesn't matter is probably one of the biggest reasons that people don't vote because it's the easiest one to believe because you don't actually see You don't see what happens. All right, exactly. Yeah, you know, I mean eventually you do you uh you know that somebody wins and somebody loses. But it's it's there it is this kind of idea that once you do once you vote, it goes out into the unknown for I mean, usually 24 hours, but we'll see. We'll see this year. Um but i it's just so untrue, like as far as thinking that you don't have a voice. So I have a a fact, a statement, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

So in Pennsylvania, as of September of 2020, this year, so last month, there were more Democrats in Pennsylvania registered to vote than Republicans by 700,000. Those people probably didn't just show up this year. I I mean if they did, if they did, great, then that's that's phenomenal. But when you think about that, like there's 700,000 more people that registered Democrat over Republican in the election of 2016, uh Donald Trump won Pennsylvania, so it went to the Republican Party. So you you know, like you're you're you're when you look at 700,000 voters in the grand scheme of an entire election, it doesn't seem like it's that big of a number. But if you don't get out there and actually vote, that number doesn't actually mean anything. So your your vote absolutely does matter. It does count, and and and it's it's almost saying that your vote doesn't matter is almost sort of saying like telling someone their opinion doesn't matter. Exactly. Yeah, your opinion does fucking matter because you're voting for things that you care about and that you feel strongly. Yeah. So it's you're I think yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Yeah, it's like literally, like you said, your opinion, like it's like you know, starting this campaign, you know, like I actually got like a lot of hate from it because people were like, you're not gonna make a difference, you're not gonna make a change. And you know, like I mean doing what I do, like acting and modeling, like it's out of the ordinary from where I'm from. Like maybe if I lived in New York or I lived in LA or Chicago or even Miami, like it would be like, okay, you're just doing what everybody else is doing, like this is normal. Yeah, but me being from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, moving to Pittsburgh, not a super big area for modeling or acting. So people looked at me funny, just like how they looked at me funny when I started other campaigns and like I posted my stuff. Now, posting this campaign, everybody's like, why are you doing this? Like, what what difference are you trying to make? Like, what are you doing? And I'm just like, I just want to bring like I want to use my voice, which I'm lucky to have, to voice for other people and for other people to get their stories heard and just like it's just like baffling to me that like people have such strong voices, and you know, maybe maybe they're shy, they're like they don't want to like speak out, like they don't want to like I don't know, then do it anonymously, but like still like educate other people and just I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

Yeah, no, that's uh you're you're 100% right. I think that there is this lack of education that happens, and we kind of we just talked about it actually, and that that's that's there's a it's has a starting point. Um and I wish I I I wish I knew a little bit more, and now that I'm thinking about it, it would have been kind of cool to maybe if I could have reached out to like an old history professor and like how they've handled this year.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Um well, hindsight, maybe if this podcast is going the next four years, we'll we'll cross that bridge.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

We'll let you know. Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Yeah, so see you guys, uh see you guys next time around. Uh what advice do you have for anyone that is voting for the first time? So, like let's say they're listening to this podcast and they're not in their second. Tomorrow is election day. What advice do you have for them if they're going in person to vote?

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Yeah. So I just remember when I was going in person, I was so excited. My dad's always been, this is like for the longest time, he's always been the first voter in our like precinct, like where we go to vote. He's always been the first one. So I remember we were getting ready, and I was like, Dad, like I'm so excited. It's my first time to vote. Because like I had always gone with like my parents. Like, I remember when I was little, and this is like one of my favorite memories. And I don't know if this makes me like even more of a nerd or what, but I remember like it had to have I was like very young because my mom was like still holding me, I think. But it was the old voting um boost where you like took the the lever and like pulled it down. And I remember going with her and like it was just so like I I don't know. She probably like picked me up to like pull the lever because that thing's heavy and I like probably weighed as much as the lever. I probably still do now, but um she I just remember like being so excited and her saying, like, this is gonna be you in like a couple of years, like you have the power to like use your voice to do that. And I feel like people that are voting for the first time, like they should be excited. Like, this year has been terrifying, and they have a chance to improve this year, and like I just I would just be so excited if like this was my first year for voting. I mean, my first year for voting was Obama, so like God bless that, because like love, love that man. Um pour one out. Um, but I just I think they should go in with like an open like open arms almost, like just be excited, like you're embrace this day. Embrace it, like you're making a change, like you're part of history, like especially during this year, like for your first time. Like, I don't know if you can tell like the excitement, but like I am excited for you for voting for the first time. Like, that's so like I just think it's really powerful, and then like you should just be excited and you should really like remember this day because this is like this day will go down in history, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

Yeah. Uh I mean, this is the biggest election that we've ever seen. I think this is the biggest election that a lot of people have ever seen or been able to participate in. And I I know for me, I remember my the first election, like the general election that I could vote in was Obama as well. Um, because I had just missed his his first term. So I got him the second time round.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Um lucky you.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

And it and it was it was really cool. It felt good. I was like, this is great. And then the last election was uh surrounded by this sort of cloud of almost naivety in thinking that I'm like this is great. I'm gonna vote for Hillary, here we go. And it it like it felt really good, and I was like, oh man, this is it felt better almost because I was like, you know, yeah, I'm sticking it to the man, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And I don't know. This year I have this like fear that I'm gonna get into that booth, I'm gonna vote, I'm gonna walk out and just like start crying. Because it's it's just been like such an emotional roller coaster this year, and especially just these last couple of months, that just to be able to put my vote in and be like, all right, well, it's completely out of my hands now. I've done everything that I can do.

SPEAKER_02 33:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Um, or at least done the biggest thing that I can do. And it that but I am there is this this feeling of excitement, and that is something that doesn't go away. So if this is your first time voting, you should be excited because this feeling should be how you feel every single time.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Yeah, don't let the fear of like the unknown like stop.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

Looking at like what this year has been, like, it's been a giant clusterfuck. Like, I'm not gonna lie, like it's been awful. But you really you have to look at it more as an opportunity and less of an obstacle, I think. Because you should still feel excitement, like it's kind of nerve-wracking because it's like, oh my gosh, like I'm putting my voice out there, like the hand like the hands of like the unknown are gonna receive this, and like my voice is gonna mean something, and like it's crazy, like it's a weird feeling, but like I think you should be excited because yeah, and you also get a cool sticker if you go in person.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

You get a sticker, you get a sticker, and you better keep the sticker, the sticker's gonna go down, the sticker's gonna be worth money one day.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Um I hope that like when I go, I am doing an in-person voting, so I'm going on actual election day. And I like my biggest hope is that I get either someone, like I hope I get like a first-time voter like in front of me or behind me that I'll I'd be able to like talk to while being socially distanced, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Yeah. Um just scream.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

Yeah, just scream at everyone and make them excited. Uh, but I I just I don't know, there's that's I think this like fantasy that I've had is that I have like a first-time voter there, or even somebody that's like super old that's like I do this all the time. Just because I think that would be such a cool feeling, especially for this election in general.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

Yeah, I will say, oh, sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. Okay. Um, I've been really uh grateful to work. I used to work the voting polls for the primaries and like, you know, the presidential elections. And this is the first one I'm not working just due to COVID and everything. I just wanted to make sure like I was safe, like not expose myself to other people. But um, it was really cute because a lot of like the women that I work with, um, they like were reaching out and they're like, hey, like, are you working? Because they all, it's so fun because they're all so much older and they have like so many stories of them voting, and then here I am this like super peppy girl, like at 5 a.m., like ready to cast my vote. But I I will miss that experience because that is something really cool because you get all types of people, people like you said, like first-time voters or people that have been voting for the last like 70 years, so yeah, it's a really cool experience. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:50

It's fun. What are your plans for election day? What are you doing? So I mean, I guess you I guess you did just kind of talk about it. Well, yeah, but like, are you gonna watch you like the returns and everything like that?

SPEAKER_02 36:01

For sure. Yeah. My dad and I, so me not living at my parents anymore, like this is kind of like weird. I'm like, should I go home for this? Like, I don't know, but I didn't okay, sorry, I saw a shadow in my house and I was like, what was that? Okay. Um I I did a mail-in ballot, which was my first time doing mail-in, and it was like very weird. I was like, Oh, I say liked way too much. I'm so sorry. Um I just like caught myself saying it a bunch of times. I can like hear my dad in the back of my head saying, Stop it.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Um if you go back and listen to how many times I've said um so far, uh take a drink every time. And hopefully, no, don't because I don't want to be responsible.

SPEAKER_02 36:44

You'll black out.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Yeah, yeah. Or die.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

21 and over, please.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

Yeah. We need we need you to be here at least till November 4th.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

So yeah, please.

unknown 36:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:54

Um well now you got me saying um. Uh but no, I did a mail-in ballot. It was really weird. Like my parents, we did them together, like all three of us got them at the same well, no, actually, my dad's his came later and he was like, What the heck? Uh so my mom and I did ours together. And it was just really weird. Like, it was like why like I missed the experience of like being inside and just like the rush of it. So that was a little bit weird. So you first time voters take that rush for me because I'm jealous. Um, but for election day, yeah, I'll definitely be like tuning into like probably like MSNBC like all day, or like CNN, because I'm an old lady um at heart. But no, I'll definitely be watching to see. I get it though, like my anxiety is so bad. Like this happened last election. Like, I know like my dad had to like turn it off halfway through because he was like, it's making me sick. And I was like, Whoa, okay. I was like, fair. Um, so I'll definitely watch it. I'll probably Marisa, her and I have been watching the debates together, so probably post up, maybe make a cute charcuterie board.

SPEAKER_00 38:08

Um it's all about that charcuter.

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Yeah, I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

Catch me on the next podcast, I'll break it down for you. But um, but no, I definitely will be watching it. Probably you'll see me on Twitter, and then you probably won't hear from me depending on how the results go.

unknown 38:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

I um I blacked out and passed out on the last election because it was not going the way that I had thought that it would go. Yeah. Uh, and woke up and like literally looked at my phone and went on to Facebook, and that's how I found out that Donald Trump was a kid.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

I feel it was a very like ominous day, like it was very eerie. Like you could tell like the world was ending.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

I went to work that I went to work the next day at our at our at the company that we used to work at.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

Our tech company, yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:06

Uh and um there was, it was. I mean, we live in Pittsburgh. I mean, you we we are one of the giant blue dots on Pennsylvania's face. So, I mean, to give you an idea of where we stand. Um, but it it was. It was a it was a very um it was a very weird day the day after. And I don't shit, man. I don't know what's gonna Well, I mean, we also might not know this. I mean, everything so many things are up in the air right now. We might not know. We I mean that's why I'm I'm also kinda like, well, I wonder if you know the returns are really gonna be all that informative because you know, there's still ballots that are gonna be counted after November 3rd. So we'll see. I mean, it's it's gonna be it's gonna be a time. I think we've got an interesting week, two weeks. Yeah, hopefully, hopefully no longer than that ahead of us.

SPEAKER_02 40:02

It's so crazy.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

But it's gonna be what it's gonna be, and we will survive. Maybe.

SPEAKER_02 40:09

Hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Hopefully we make it. Uh but um but stay tuned.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Oh yeah, stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

Jess, thank you so so much for talking with me.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

Of course, it was so fun.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

I know. Well, we'll have you on for like how I said, I know, like I know it's fun, it's a great time because it's fun. Yeah, you know I'm a fun time. Lord, and sometimes not a fun time.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Yeah, sometimes miserable. So that's just the both worlds have your pick.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

Yeah, so uh thank you again for being here. Um, anyone that wants to go check out uh Jess's website, it is www.voiceyourvote.net dot net. And oh my gosh, I didn't write down one minute.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

That's okay. One minute can be found on my portfolio, like on my website. So it would be J Buckman, B U C H M A N, talent dot com, and it would be under the section more, and it's one minute, and you can find also all these awesome campaigns and creatives that I get the chance to work with that are awesome and yeah, deal with my crazy ideas.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah, and I'll um put your websites and information in the podcast information so anyone can go and see it. Jess, thank you so, so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

Yes, thank you again for asking. This was so fun for Friday night.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

This is what we do. Um, all right, everyone, we will be right back. Okay, so there you have it. I just want to thank Jess again for talking with me. You know, lots of good shit covered. And uh I have to say, I think it's just so cool that she created a whole campaign around getting people registered to vote. In case you can't tell, I think voting is super important, so make sure you vote. Uh, and make sure you do your research on your ballots. You know, look up the people that you're going to vote for. I mean, obviously we know or do we really know what the presidential candidates stand for, but uh you're voting for more than just them. Snapchat actually has a really cool feature called before you vote, and you can literally just search for it in Snapchat, but you get to fill out what your ballot is based on your voting place. Uh so you pick your voting plan, in-person, mail-in, etc. And you get a sample ballot, and it shows you the candidates for each you know, uh person that's being voted for. And it shows you their positions on different topics. And uh I think I thought the descriptions were very fair, and they were based on what we've heard. Uh and speaks to where each candidate stands, and then it just shows you what your ballot looks like. You could also just Google where you live and what your ballot will look like and who's on the ticket. And you can look up each person. As crazy as that sounds. So I just kind of wanted to end this episode not on a soapbox per se. Because that's not what I want this to be about. But man, we're l we're living in such a weird time right now. Uh we're experiencing an election that the results of which, when we get them, no matter who becomes president, uh half of the country's gonna be angry. It's gonna be four more years of the same social media bullshit, the same you know, different media outlets fighting, everyone calling everyone a liar, blah blah blah blah blah. So all we can really do. Is fight for the things that we believe in. Now, this episode is not about me saying who to vote for, but it is to tell you to please get out and vote if you haven't already. Voting is a right that you get to choose, but it is a duty that you should obligate so that no matter what the outcome of this election is, you know that you personally played a part and you did your part. And here's just the brutal fucking truth, okay? Your vote matters. Your voice matters. Don't don't put your head down. Put your head up and fight against the things that piss you off because trust me, in this election, there is a lot on the line, and a lot of people are scared right now, and the only weapon we have is our vote. I'm getting so unnecessarily emotional about this. Um that also could be just the drinking, but I mean, for God's sake, this has been one of these most emotional years elections. It's all, you know, gotta come out somehow. And this is why I drink, so okay, let's reel it in here. Figgles. Okay. Anyway, now that I got that out, um one cool thing that I did think of that I thought could be really important to some people. I don't know if it's for everybody, but um for everyone who is voting or has voted, keep your sticker. This is one of the biggest elections I think we've seen in such a long, long time. So keep your sticker of a reminder of this time. You know, as a reminder of the last election when we as a nation became complicit. I mean, for fuck's sake, how many of us actually thought that Trump would ever become president so we didn't worry and maybe didn't even vote? You know? Keep that sticker as a reminder of a time when we as a nation then came together to fight like hell, which is what we are doing and what we've been doing. Um you know, I'm I'm sorry, I know I said I didn't want this to get political, but it slipped out okay, so fucking sue me. Anyway. So off my technically not a soapbox, soapbox. But thank you everyone so much for listening. Um, if you're a fan of making a martini, let us know. And by us, I mean me. Uh give a rating and a review. Uh, tell your friends, tell people to listen, um, people on the street, just let them know that this is a podcast that's out there. Uh, and you can find uh making a martini on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, um, and soon to be on Pandora and iHeartRadio. It takes for fucking ever for them to approve you. So eventually one day. Or they'll listen to this and then decide just not to in general. I digress. This has been Making a Martini Up, Dry, and Straight to the Point. Remember to vote. I love you all. Cheers.