Voting!

I find myself waking up this morning with a sense of relief. After a seemingly interminably long season, the political commercials will finally come to an end. After the past few months, I am looking forward to commercials for cookie mix, Doritos and various Summer's Eve products!

It feels like this election cycle has been exceedingly nasty and that political messages have been inundating every possible venue. From Facebook ads to tweets showing up on my feed, I am tired of "important political messages." I was beginning to feel like a celebrity yesterday with all the phone calls I was receiving. Mitt Romney and Michelle Obama each called to "personally ask for my vote," via automated call of course. Had either called personally my vote might have been swayed, but seeing that they were both robo-calls, the efforts cancelled each other. 

Giving myself a pat on the back, I have to say that I have been mute during this election cycle. Through experience I've realized that debate among friends seldom ends amicably. Too often emotions rise quickly and often bad feelings are harbored when political ideologies do not mesh. I feel comfortable in my perspectives and ideas. I've thought about the issues and feel comfortable with my vote. I also respect my friends and family enough  not to try to sway their opinions. Trying to convince them of the correctness my ideas will be as productive as them trying to turn mine. Some topics are best left off the discussion list.

Regardless of who is elected, the sun will rise tomorrow.  Half of my friends will be elated and will be posting victorious messages bragging about having political control over the next four years. The other half of my friends will pout, and then they will begin posting the not-so-original "don't blame me, I didn't vote for him" message whenever a misstep occurs. Thankfully, those serial posters can easily be hidden from my newsfeeds on Facebook and Twitter. 

This morning I plan on stopping to vote before I drop Robby at school. While I could easily stop by my polling place while he is in class,  I feel that it is important that he see me engage in this important civic duty. Robby has seen the commercials and has heard the phone ringing off the hook from political solicitations. I'm looking forward to showing him my role in this process! Happy Election Day!