Blaring Bells

I work in a job based on votes. Votes to get you elected and votes to move legislation forward. Democracy in action.

On avergae we have 700 recorded votes a year in Congress and probably twice as many voice votes. In the House we usually have 15 minutes form when the buzzer sounds until the votes are closed. Imagine your alarm clock blarring in your ears, at "11" on the volumn dial rinigng mutiple times. It's jarring. Hearing the buzzers go off, seeing the clocks light up and seeing the mad dash of Memebrs and staff is a typical occurence here and i have often wondered what other people see.

Now in meetings I can see distress in the faces of the people meeting with the Congressman. I'm not going to finsih my piece. If they have never been here they get startled. The people who have been here calmly talk through the buzzers. Listening to people talk through the buzzer never works for me. i just get lost and have to get them to repeat themselves. It's an old arcane method of alerting Memebrs of a vote but without this place would not be the same and some Members would forget to vote.