It's all over except for the actual voting, the only really important element of this horrific election cycle we've all collectively lived through. I don't care if you are voting for Clarabelle the Cow tomorrow, we all have one thing in common: "Thank God this is election is going to be over!" I am so damned tired of nasty. I am so tired of repetitive, manipulative ads. I want to be finished with this insanity. I'm sick of polls and last minute revelations.
Collectively we are not a vindictive population. It's certainly time for all of us to step back from the world is coming to an end if THAT PERSON is elected frenzy the media has been whipping up for months and get back some perspective. Think of it this way: When I was sitting dazed and bleeding in the passenger seat of our wrecked car, total strangers ran toward the steaming, still ticking wreck to help me. No one asked who I was voting for, unfriended me on Facebook, screamed at me, nor turned away disgusted if I wasn't on board with their political views.
We help people. Today, the day before the election, just look around you. There will be people doing kind actions everywhere. In old people land I routinely pick up dropped stuff, and pull down items from the high shelves in the grocery store. Sometimes I just talk to people while doing my errands knowing I might be the only person they actually have a conversation with for the next 24 hours. It's also imperative in my neck of the desert to admire a person's dog. We all practice routine courtesies everyday; it's second nature to us and is the grease which makes our multi-cultural society function.
Manners and being civil are important. They take the edge off the stress most of us routinely live under. That's why we are all shell shocked by this vituperative election campaign stacked on top of all the other stuff we all have going on. In the past 20 years, we are working (on average, of course) about 163 more hours a year - that's an entire extra month of work each year! Americans are the most productive worker bees on the planet. In the past 60 years we've also incorporated the second half of our population into the workforce (women), and now almost every worker is juggling the work/family dynamic every single day. Everybody is always trying to figure out where they stand in relation to the people they work with, the family they care for, and the neighborhood they live in.
Humans love the pecking order. It's in our nature. We learned eons ago the odds of our personal survival went up if we worked as part of a group. We also learned every person has a set value to a group and could be ranked accordingly. Our overarching 'big group' is our national identity as Americans. Thus, we have a basic binary ranking: you either are or aren't in the group.
Well, my point is no matter who you vote for tomorrow, remember: That person standing next to you is part of your basic group: An American citizen, and I guarantee you will feel a solidarity with them just because they are standing in line and voting. Give that person next to you a high five tomorrow. And, for heaven's sake, let's start remembering again who we really are - a kind and compassionate people who help one another get through each and every day.
