By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Over at one polling place yesterday, the volunteer who had the job of checking picture identification against voter registration rolls brought her beading kit along to work on bracelets during her shift, as if anticipating she'd have a lot of time to kill.

She did.

It was a slow day at the polls. Disgustingly slow.

Oh, people talk a good game about being sick of the same old same old and wanting to throw the bums out and replace them with people who have fresh ideas.

But when it comes down to actually doing something about it, stuff gets in the way.

Stupid stuff.

Football games. Televised football games. The mindless obligations of everyday life. All things that could still be attended to if a trip to the local elementary school cafeteria to cast a ballot was factored into the day.

Even Andy Anderson, in perhaps the most brilliant moment of this campaign, gave the people of Hawai'i a good scolding for not caring enough to vote.

Could it be that we're actually happy with the way things are?

The rich live very well here and the poor don't make much trouble. Everyone else is too busy working three jobs and shuttling the kids to lessons to pay attention to the larger picture.

The ocean is dirty but it's clean enough. The traffic is bad but we can put up with it. The schools don't have enough money for books, and repairs go undone for months, but we don't REALLY believe that our kids deserve better — and if we do, we whisk them as quickly as we can into private school.

Could it be that we complain about local government just to sound cool, like kids who put down the establishment not because they truly oppose it, but to go along would be too square?

Or perhaps we're not happy with the way things are, but we aren't unhappy enough to demand change.

If that's the case, what's it going to take to get people to vote?

Since the last election, we've witnessed a string of disgraced politicians head off to prison. We saw how badly a tourism-dependent economy can crumble in the face of world events.

Native Hawaiians have had one attack after another on ali'i trusts and entitlements. The public school teachers were almost made to beg for raises in a painful and drawn-out strike.

And still that's not enough for people to care enough to vote?

After every election, the bumper stickers appear: "Don't blame me, I voted for Lingle" or "Don't blame me, I voted for Bu."

Perhaps this year's version should simply read: "Don't blame me. I voted."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.