Fresh ideas: There was a time not that long ago...

I'm finding myself completing this sentence more often these days. "There was a time not that long ago when (insert anachronistic fact here)."

As I get older, there are clear contrasts between the way it is now and the way it used to be. Let's start with an easy one.

There was a time not that long ago when you could drive anywhere in Carson City in 10 minutes or less.

There was a time not that long ago when you could bite into an apple and not come away with half the label stuck to your front teeth. The obsessive labeling of fruits and vegies at the supermarket is one of the more annoying parts of modern life.

On the other hand, there was a time when lettuce didn't come in a bag and we ate salad less often. So it's not all bad.

Yesterday at the post office my son and I discovered the stamp machine. If you buy a small quantity of stamps with a larger bill, you get change in dollar coins. So we did, and were rewarded with one Sacajawea and two Susan B. Anthony dollars.

"Who was Susan B. Anthony?" my son asked.

"She crusaded to get a constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote."

There was a time not that long ago, I told him, when women couldn't vote.

"When your grandparents were born (in 1909 and 1915) their mothers couldn't vote. When your grandfather was your age (12), his mother had just been given the right to vote the year before."

There was a time not that long ago when registered voters actually voted. Today some people take voting for granted, by exercising their right not to register and not to vote. In the last general election, only 49 percent of the voting age population voted. For the same election, 65 percent of those registered actually voted, down every year since 1964, when 95 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

Today, many people consider voting neither a duty nor a privilege. With population increases, the fragmentation of community and neighborhood, and the alienation of citizen from government, voting patterns have changed along with decreased voter turnout on election day.

Maybe you know someone who needs to register to vote. The deadline for the general election is Saturday, Oct. 7.

In Carson City, the election office is open 8 a.m. to 5 pm weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekends. Lyon County residents can call the clerk's office at 577-5033 to request a mail-in registration form, or can register at the Dayton Justice of the Peace Office.

The Douglas County clerk's office in Minden is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and will be open evenings, 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 5, 6, and 7. Call them at 782-9023 for more information. Area residents can also register at any DMV office.

There was a time not that long ago when you could only register at the county clerk's office during weekday business hours. Like bags o' salad, times have changed for the better.

The key to a democracy at work is participation at the local level. So if you need to register, do it by Oct. 7, and if you know someone who needs some encouragement, don't be shy.

Remember, there was a time not that long ago when only white men with property could vote. How did that get changed? Through voting.

(Abby Johnson consults on rural community development, grant management and nuclear waste issues. She is married and has one middle school-aged child.)