differing opinions and complete respect

There's a guy on campus whom I've been getting to know over the past semester. Patrick's been attending there nearly as long as I have, and though I knew who he was, we'd never spent time talking or anything...until this semester. I'm having a wonderful time getting to know him, and I respect him more than just about anyone else I've ever known -- on campus and off. One thing I respect about him is that he is so meticulous, thoughtful, and well-informed. He's voting for Kerry in this election, knows I'm not, and we don't argue about it. He doesn't try to change my mind; but when he finds information from a reputable source that shows Bush to not be a good leader, he makes the information available to me, and vice versa.

The other day, there was a girl in the learning lab on the computer between us who said that she was just fed up with this whole election and isn't going to vote. Pat was horrified. "You're not going to vote?!" Right. She isn't going to vote. "Why?" She didn't have a real answer. "One of the worst things you can do is not vote. [he gestured to me] D's voting -- she and I are not voting for the same person, but I am glad she's voting."

****

There was a debate on campus yesterday between the democratic incumbent for a position in Madison, and her opponent. The incumbent was horribly rude, obnoxious, arrogant, and loud. I couldn't stand her. When her opponent was stating his case, she was crossing her arms and acting like he wasn't worth listening to; when she talked, she pointed her finger at him and yelled and was a total jerk. Afterwards, I went up to the republican, shook his hand, thanked him for coming -- "You are SO getting my vote." heh. He seemed taken a little off-guard.

In the crush of 225 people pushing for the doors, Pat and I ended up next to each other, and as we went into the hallway, I noticed the College Republican's table set up, with a roll of 4"x3" BUSH CHENEY 04 stickers sitting on it. We said goodbye, and then I doubled back to the table, snatched a sticker, and put it on his backpack...without him noticing. Unfortunately, his older brother (who's a prof) saw, thought it was funny but that I was going to get myself in trouble, and alerted Pat as to what was on his backpack. I was far away by this time, heh. :P

Later, I walked into the Learning Lab to check my e-mail; Patrick was there. I struck up a conversation... "Hey, Pat, I just wanted to tell you how thrilled I was to see you sporting a BUSH CHENEY 04 sticker earlier. I know they would be thrilled to know that they have your full support this election." One thing I adore is his sense of humour -- he totally didn't miss a beat.

"Yes. I know some people might be surprised by it, but, you know, I've thought about it a lot, and I've realised it was the only logical decision to make. ... That, or some [D] character put it on my backpack."