Outside the Webster Groves rec center, the mid-morning line snaked down the sidewalk and almost to the pool.

The wait: about 50 minutes, not counting the actual voting.

For those who showed up around 6 a.m. (a certain person’s spouse), the wait was about 2 hours.

The rec center polling place has NEVER been this busy.

By noon, election officials reported that more than 800 of the polling place’s 1,800 potential voters had cast ballots.

In any event, by late morning, the candidates and their volunteers were staying out in the parking lot, for the most part, to give the would-be voters some space.

A pizza-place employee, apparently in line, began distributing coupons to his fellow line-waiters.

The line was quiet, with the only conversation overheard about mundane things — the great weather, how college was going, and the new rec center fitness equipment.

LOTS of young people in line.