missing the point

Today marked a critical turning point.
A vote was to be cast which would set the future in motion for this group of people.
My name had been checked against those in the register and I was granted a ballot.
I placed myself in the very first row, to cast my ballot as early as possible.
Breakfast had been early and I had missed the proffered lunch.
I even gave my name and phone number to another, to be notified of the outcome.
Instead, after a chance conversation, I had resolved to stay and hear the results myself.

Prior to the start of this special meeting, folks were talking, as is natural.
Then a person sitting behind me said something inappropriate that prompted me to respond.
The person had said, "I know how everybody ought to vote. If they can't vote the right way, then I hope they just stayed home."
The person had completely missed the point of this special event.
I told the person, "The whole point of our being here today is to insure that everyone here has a say, to insure that everyone's voice is heard."
Another person spoke up. "Yes, that's the purpose of voting, to allow everyone to cast a ballot and be represented."
"That's not what I mean," I said. "The entire reason for today's vote is to insure that everyone has a voice every time we are together."
The initial person had kept their mouth shut, no doubt recognizing their mistake.
The other person did not speak again, so neither did I.

The special meeting had begun with an announcement.
Even though we would go through with this long-awaited voting process, the outcome, regardless of direction favored by the two-thirds majority of voters, would not lead to any immediate change in our group's operation.
Instead, we would continue in a holding pattern, as we had been, moving forward only in time, but not in action.
This vote, which we had thought would be the first step in a series, was moot.
The next step that would have been taken in the series had been removed, rendered null and void by the external powers that be.

How did the vote turn out?
Was the measure under consideration passed or denied?
Those questions are truly of no importance.
How will our group weather the very vote itself?
Ah, my dear, that is the crux of the matter.
For now all know that all are definitely not all in agreement.
Let's hope the future does not hold a witch hunt in store.

After all, the point is supposed to be that everyone has a voice that should be heard.