Columbusdelphia / In the City's Shadow

All is well in the midwestern front. The leaves on the trees have all turned and are now littering my front lawn. My old Elm tree serves as a reminder that work does not end at 6:30 when I clock out from my job. In fact, work is only beginning.

It’s October in Ohio (as I suppose it is in the rest of the world). It’s not just any October though, it’s October – in an election year, in Ohio – the swing state.

I can’t help but be completely turned off to politics at this point in time. Being asked if I support the Old Guy with Yellow Teeth or the Young Guy with Big Ears is like asking which way would you rather die, being tickled to death or dying of laughter. They both cause the same result in the end, it’s just one is a little less invasive.

For the first time that I can remember, I’m going into November with entirely no one to vote for. I may only vote for the issues this time around.  Even on those, I’m so confused. Do I want a casino in Ohio or not? I tend to think I do, if only to keep those gamblers in Ohio from going to Indiana or Michigan or West Virginia to engage in dirty deeds done dirt cheap. It really has nothing to do with the morality of it all, or even the taxes – but more so in saving a life. I figure the more stupid Ohio drivers I can keep from leaving the state, the less casualities will be caused on foreign highways.

Yes, it’s campaign season. There is nothing more divisive than politics I’ve discovered. Politics is much more divisive than religion. I must say, as a youngster, I was always intrigued by politics.  I was always intrigued by religion as well, I would assume. I’m pretty sure as a child, my purpose in life was to grow up and be divisive – however, being entrenched in both at such an early age has left me more indecisive.

I was a homegrown Republican. I grew up in a home where I was lead to believe that Mt. Rushmore had the unmistakable busts of Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood and Jesus.  There was nothing at all wrong with the way I grew up, or even those convictions of my folks. It was definetely a conservative home. I grew up thinking the Clintons were the most terrible people in the world and the only thing that was to be respected with the word “democrat” in it was “The Putnam Democrat” newspapper my grandparents got every week in the mail.

Now, I’m not so certain it’s the right life for me. Being so engulfed in politics. It’s made me a very bitter person and has even made me look at those that I respect – who view things differently than I – with a hint of disgust.

So, for now, I’m going to turn off the TV. I’m going to to turn off the radio. I’m going to pop in that old album that I haven’t heard in years and wave at my neighbor – the one with the donkey sign – and let them know I wish them well. I’ll help my Republican friend move into a new home.  I’ll ignore maps that depict the United States as Red and Blue.

And come that Tuesday in November. I’ll go to the ballot and vote. Not for Ol’ Yeller Teeth. Not for Big Ears.  Not for anyone. That’s the best change I can think of.

(Just kidding, you know I’m totally voting for the old dude.)