“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 596 (Tuesday)

It’s Election Day. Did your city or town have an election and did you vote? If yes, thank you for participating in the process. If not, don’t let me hear you whining about any outcomes. Seriously. I mean it.

Over the years, I have known several people (too many, really) who neglect to vote and then complain constantly about any and all local, state, and national elected figures. Umm…. No! If you choose to not participate at the ballot box, I choose to not participate your whining. 

A pile of  words.

During campaign season, the postcards and door hangers are collected in a pile, and reviewed right before voting. Candidate mailers for today’s election showed that half the candidate mail received featured two mailers each – an 8.5” x 11” piece, and a smaller piece. The others sent two mailers of the oversized postcard variety. Two mailers seemed to be the magic number across the board. Some of these pieces had waaaay too many words. Oy. I am not reading the equivalent of War and Peace on your election mailer. 

Mailers for one city council candidate featured an awkward, self-conscious photo. The candidate wore casual, but neat attire that seemed a bit ill fitting, and was posed squinting into the light and standing with a bizarre leg position. It wasn’t a dynamic action pose that captured walking, it was just a weird static pose, like maybe there was a wedgie happening or something else uncomfortable was going on. Constipation, maybe? There was nothing natural about it at all. It's hard to decide if the candidate wasn't comfortable in the outfit, or in their own skin.

The photos were taken on various city streets. Or more accurately IN the streets, as in, in the middle of a travel lane with not a car in sight. Maybe that was the source of discomfort. What the heck time of day does one need to be downtown for there to be no traffic? And why feature yourself in a a deserted downtown street when the flip side of your mailer features a photo of a traffic jam as a problem to be solved?

Maybe the weird poses were a strategy, because I sure spent a lot of time analyzing those photos. I can’t tell you a single word about what this candidate stands for, but I can tell you they stand weird.

Now that the votes have been cast and the campaigning is done, my mailbox will probably be a bit emptier and I won’t mind. It’s been a bit of a mystery why the political mailers in my daily USPS notifications have managed to arrive according to the upcoming delivery notices, but the mortgage bill, car loan bill, and a card from my cousin have not. According to the notifications, the mortgage bill was due to deliver October 23 and the other two were due last Friday. These have now been checked off in the system as “not received.” Let’s get with the program USPS. Don't tease me with images of my mail and then hold out on me.

Now it’s over except for the results – of the election and the “where is the rest of my mail?” game.