This is my very first diary, and it is about how the Recall Elections have personally changed every part of my life- from talking to friends and neighbors, to when and where I go online, to where I shop and eat. It's inescapable right now.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll log in to Facebook again? Doubtful, yes. But if I want to know who bought a new hot-air balloon for their sheep in Farmville, I can do that!
Maybe tomorrow I won’t have a physical reaction to anyone who disagrees with me. About anything. What do you mean you prefer vanilla frozen custard over Butter Pecan- you must watch Fox!
Maybe tomorrow I’ll cut the grass at the same time as my neighbors. Sure, they use gas-guzzling, noise-polluting lawnmowers that throw sticks and stones arbitrarily at people and property, but it’s possible. I said maybe.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll answer all my incoming calls. Maybe tomorrow I’ll let anyone merge into my lane on the freeway. Maybe tomorrow I’ll talk about the Brewers with everyone in my office. Maybe tomorrow we’ll realize that the ability to recall politicians is a vital part of our representative democracy.
Maybe tomorrow that crazy retired guy from down the street will stop to chat about the weather again. Maybe tomorrow it won’t matter what the demographics are in the crosstabs. Maybe tomorrow I won’t have this constant feeling of nervousness, exhaustion and dread all rolled up into one enormous ball of agitation. Maybe tomorrow I’ll talk to my co-opted cousin who, of course, accuses me of being brainwashed while parroting talking points administered by folks that ain’t from around here.
Maybe tomorrow I can shop at the grocery store that is most convenient to me. Maybe tomorrow I can listen to the radio, or watch TV, without having to change the station the moment the commercials begin. Maybe tomorrow facts will matter. Maybe tomorrow reason will be welcomed. Maybe tomorrow I won’t have to whisper in public.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll stop worrying about whether the MOE needs to be added to each candidate, or just to the spread between the candidates. Maybe tomorrow I can use the shortest, most direct route to the restrooms at work. Maybe tomorrow I can finally begin to make plans for the summer. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a little more patience for my wife and kids when they ask me a simple question, because maybe tomorrow I won’t be debating on-line know-nothings in my mind non-stop.
Maybe tomorrow I won’t need to open 14 tabs when I log on to Daily Kos just to find out what happened in my state while I was sleeping. Maybe tomorrow I won’t have to risk ruining personal relationships that have been built over decades by asking, again, to please support your own self-interest. Maybe tomorrow we can begin to reconcile.
Maybe tomorrow some normalcy and decency will return to this very decent state. Maybe tomorrow it won’t be as taxing to live in a place where every move, every thought and EVERY action is calculated and motivated by whether someone is with you, or against you.
Maybe tomorrow we can agree that there is common ground. Maybe tomorrow we won’t be so disconnected from the bonds that have held us together for generations.
Maybe tomorrow neighbors will act like neighbors again. Maybe tomorrow we can begin to heal.
Or.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up in Wiscissippi.