What are we talking about today?

I'll get back to theme days once I find a groove of posting regularly. In the meantime, most of my posts are about some variation of books, bikes, buses, or Broadway. Plus bits about writing, nonprofits, and grief from time to time.

This blog is mostly lighthearted and pretty silly. It's not about the terrible things happening in the world, but please know that I'm not ignoring those things. I just generally don't write about them here.

31 October 2008

Voting, Part And now for my final thought.

Yes, you read that correctly, this is the last of the "voting" series. I've lost count of how many there are. I hope you enjoyed them. Okay, I know better. I hope you will all come back, now that I'm finished. :)

Midterms in '06 (the Democrats rejoice): Chad worked the polls. I read the rules very carefully; I was allowed to bring him lunch and supper, but then had to leave immediately. I didn't even stick around to vote, because we voted early that year.

This year: I'm not voting early. Call me crazy (there are so many who do), but I like voting on election day. Remember the six-year-old who thought voting was a magical, exciting thing? There's still a bit of her in me. My heart still skips a beat when I get my ballot and walk to the booth, like the 17-year-old that I was in '96. The long lines on election day are part of the fun. Yeah, I know I'm crazy.

I no longer think voting is magical; I know it is a lot more serious than that. I no longer think it is a matter of getting my favourite party as much power as possible; I know it is much more grey than that. In fact, I longer have a favourite party; I have learned that truth is not to be found in politics.

I know that voting is a tremendous responsibility, and I owe it to myself and my neighbours to make a well-informed decision. However, I also know that one of the downsides of living in a democracy is that sometimes the majority will not agree with me. (Which is a real bummer.)

On November 4th, we get to overthrow the government. (Yeah, that was a West Wing reference.) Please use this gift wisely, but do use it.

Thanks for listening.

No comments: