Tuesday, March 1st, 2016
This month I will participate in the Slice of Life Challenge!
My goal is to Write. Share. Give. each & every day of March.
Check out Two Writing Teachers for more info!
The crud that is going around is an especially virulent strain of crud, I'm afraid. Our very own Typhoid Mary shared it with everyone at a family birthday party 3 weeks ago, apparently and since that time every last one of us has had a fairly rough bout of it. Daughter the eldest is all feverish and headachy today, so I'm home for the morning. Sometimes this scenario makes me feel pulled and slightly guilty, but not today.
It isn't that I'm glad she's ill, mind you. No, it isn't that. It's that today is Super Tuesday and somehow I never quite got around to early voting. I knew what my polling location would look like this evening, and I wasn't looking forward to it.
Voting has become more important to me the older I've become. I like to think that's because I'm a bit wiser with the years, too, but that is debatable. Confession time---while I am a voter in the real deal, I don't always vote in the primaries. In fact, I rarely do because I don't identify as either political party. I'm an independent. A rebel in most areas of my life. I don't vote by party lines, so primaries aren't my thing because they make you choose.
I get it--I totally get it--but man is it weird to have to walk up to either one party's table or the other for the ballot. I felt both awkward and proud this morning as I voted. It's hard because in order to vote for the person I hope is elected DA, I could not vote for the person I hope is elected as state representative. I really grappled with that today.
Election season brings out the best and the worst in folks, I think. We've lost sight of our mutual hope for a bright tomorrow in the minutiae of political talk. We've become a nation (and perhaps world) that has forgotten our civility and love for our fellow man and instead, we often applaud and join in the Jerry Springer-like tactics employed by folks in these critical moments. In part, that is why it is hard for me to publicly choose to walk to one table over the other. We have forgotten the wisdom of our elder generations who taught us that talking politics and religion isn't proper etiquette in most cases. I, for one, try valiantly to stick to that rule. Funny, by sticking to that old rule--I'm still a rebel in today's world.
For me, it is about living in a way that reflects my values and beliefs---actually DOING something instead of just talking till I'm blue in the face.
So I voted today.
Because I realize that I must DO, I chose a table, walked up and I got the ballot. I don't like being defined by either the elephant or the donkey--I think I'll just stick to the bald eagle, thanks--- but I sure do like knowing that I have a voice.
It isn't that I'm glad she's ill, mind you. No, it isn't that. It's that today is Super Tuesday and somehow I never quite got around to early voting. I knew what my polling location would look like this evening, and I wasn't looking forward to it.
Voting has become more important to me the older I've become. I like to think that's because I'm a bit wiser with the years, too, but that is debatable. Confession time---while I am a voter in the real deal, I don't always vote in the primaries. In fact, I rarely do because I don't identify as either political party. I'm an independent. A rebel in most areas of my life. I don't vote by party lines, so primaries aren't my thing because they make you choose.
I get it--I totally get it--but man is it weird to have to walk up to either one party's table or the other for the ballot. I felt both awkward and proud this morning as I voted. It's hard because in order to vote for the person I hope is elected DA, I could not vote for the person I hope is elected as state representative. I really grappled with that today.
Election season brings out the best and the worst in folks, I think. We've lost sight of our mutual hope for a bright tomorrow in the minutiae of political talk. We've become a nation (and perhaps world) that has forgotten our civility and love for our fellow man and instead, we often applaud and join in the Jerry Springer-like tactics employed by folks in these critical moments. In part, that is why it is hard for me to publicly choose to walk to one table over the other. We have forgotten the wisdom of our elder generations who taught us that talking politics and religion isn't proper etiquette in most cases. I, for one, try valiantly to stick to that rule. Funny, by sticking to that old rule--I'm still a rebel in today's world.
For me, it is about living in a way that reflects my values and beliefs---actually DOING something instead of just talking till I'm blue in the face.
So I voted today.
Because I realize that I must DO, I chose a table, walked up and I got the ballot. I don't like being defined by either the elephant or the donkey--I think I'll just stick to the bald eagle, thanks--- but I sure do like knowing that I have a voice.
That's awesome that you voted! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me to someday vote in the primaries too.
ReplyDeleteWe are voting right after school! I'm doing my best to avoid this crud going around. It's everywhere! School. Church. Everywhere. I hope your family gets better soon.
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