Election Day Thoughts

Today is a day that I look forward to every four years. For some reason, the whole democracy thing, voting, staying up late and watching the returns come in while pundits analyze everything with a microscope, just excites me. It is like unwrapping a present from a stranger and not sure what you will find in the box when you get it open. 

Lately though, this day is a double edged sword of sorts. In days gone by, the following day used to be a comment or two at the watercooler at work and then life went back to the way it was. These days however, the days, weeks, months and even years after the election are filled with people on the losing extreme side carping on social media about how the world is ending and spending their days finding fault instead of looking to find middle ground for a solution that benefits everyone. I wish those people could hear how ridiculous they sound. This has gone on for the last four or five elections and to my knowledge, I'm still here and the world hasn't ended. Life has gone on and I'm willing to bet, will continue to do so long after I'm six feet under. 

I haven't voted yet but plan to do so. I have voted via mail in ballot before out of necessity but if possible, I still like the community aspect of voting in person on today. I get to go into my local precinct and talk to the same three or four old ladies that volunteer there every year. We chat about the number of people who have already voted that day, the weather, my kids, etc. for the couple minutes as they check my ID, find my name on the list, have me sign my name saying I voted and give me a ballot. I like standing in my tiny walled off booth, voting my conscious and then sliding it into the computer to be tallied in some format until polls close later tonight. I always get a piece of candy out of the basket and an "I Voted" sticker to put on my shirt on my way out the door. The entire process always makes me proud to be an American because it is orderly and peaceful. I suppose I might feel different about the entire process if I lived in a large urban area and had to stand in line for hours to vote but for me, it is usually five minutes from entering to exiting the church that is my poling station. 

Although my ballot will be purple as it is almost every year, I'm pretty sure at this point that it won't be purple at the top of the ballot. I just can't in good conscious vote for a morally corrupt person or someone who has yet to give me a definite policy answer on policies that matter to me. When asked, she has always skirted around and just repeated campaign fluff, promises she has no authority to deliver. The few policies I have heard are just to give special select groups more taxpayer dollars for "free" and pass the buck onto rich corporations who will turn around and pass that buck onto me. Perhaps if I was one of those select groups on the receiving end, it might be worthy of a vote but I'm always on the giving end. Don't get me wrong, I give generously to those in need but do so through organizations that model efficiency so that more money gets to where it was intended. Our federal government has always been a model of inefficiency and a source of easy money for scammers. Cutting them out of the loop seems like a prudent thing to do. All of this is to say that once again, I'll probably vote third party for the top of the ticket. My choice, will be a candidate that represents the issues I care about the best and also is a morally upstanding individual. 

Still, whomever is elected when the counting is done, will be MY president and like all the past presidents, I fully intend to respect them in that position and perhaps hope for some middle ground solutions that have something in them that both sides can support. You won't hear me constantly criticizing their every move on social media for the next four years. I won't be worried that the world is coming to an end. My life will continue to go on and I plan on living it to the best of my ability. 

My sincerest wish is that those around me will realize that spending all their time trashing the elected president that they didn't vote for, gets them nothing in this life. It solves nothing and does nothing other than probably elevate their own stress and blood pressure levels and divide those around them. Life is too short to willingly shorten your life even more. I hope they can instead show acceptance and try to make lemonade out of the lemons they received. I think the world would be a much better place is everyone did this.