Did You Vote Today?

If yours is a state that's having primaries, that is. Did you? If not, why not? I did. At 5:04 I was voter #42 out of a possible 988. I'd like to say the apathy in my area astounds me only sadly it does not. Not any more. That's about the norm for a primary. There might have been double the voter turnout in a major election but rarely more than that. Why have we, as a society, stopped caring? Stopped trying to make a difference? Become content to let the status quo stand, complaining but not bothering? It took me all of four minutes from the time I parked my car to the time I was back in it. Not really a big inconvenience, was it? Pathetic, people. Just pathetic.

Sigh

It was primary election day in Pennsylvania. At 5:15 I was number 112. Out of a possible 973. Yes, I know it was just the primary. Yes, I know it was raining. But still, isn’t it sad how little people here in Reading care?

Today was the day we were to choose the final candidates for mayor. I know I’ve mentioned the financial distress this city is in before so this really was important. One of the individuals today will have the task of getting Reading out of the current mess it’s in.

There were seven Democrats vying for the post and three Republicans. Granted, I don’t have TV so I wasn’t able to watch any of the debates. Nor have I seen any of their ads. But I did read the propaganda they distributed and the interviews printed in the paper. I listened to the discussions on the radio.

My opinion, and this is just that, is that they’re all scary in their own way. Nothing any of them said filled me with much hope. So the choice for me became one of who will do the least harm. Again, isn’t that sad?

In other news, I met an agent from the Homeland Security office today. No, not at work. On the street. He was stopping people passing by to ask about the possible residents of a certain apartment building. Yeah. That about sums up the state of this city, doesn’t it?

Hope your day was more inspiring.

Numb

Sorry, not much to say today. In less than a week the headlines of the local paper have included at least a dozen murders, suicides, murders staged to look like suicides, hit and run homicides, armed robberies that resulted in cop/crook killings, missing persons found dead, and the capture of murderers from crimes committed years ago. I turned the page today to world news and stopped reading at the story of three infants found dead in freezer by older siblings searching for pizza.

It seems every day there are more. And more. And more. When did life become this disposible? How can we, as individuals, change it without being viewed as fanatical crusaders? Most of all, why do so many not seem to care?