Media, pollsters, “influencers” (whatever the hell that means), and other varieties of online spastic loons (including weird human-like beings which are all those things simultaneously) have been ranting “this is the most important election in the history of humankind”. It’s true… to them.
Not you. Them. It’s the whole world… to them.
The rest of us exist in the real world. We do things. We grow, we learn, we suffer, we love, we succeed, we make mistakes, we muddle through. We do all the things fully functioning adults do.
Every election will always be the most important election ever to people without depth. They derive their existence from others. The poor bastards! They’ve a great gaping void where depth, experience, and accomplishment should reside. They substitute political shenanigans for soul. No wonder they lose their shit every election.
That’s their problem, not ours. Sanity comes from better motivations. If you cling to validation from dipshits at a podium, your life will always suck. If you eat based on resources you didn’t honorably generate, you will always live in fear. We do not suffer like that. Sanity is ours to enjoy.
It’s probably a good thing if you vote. It’s none of my business if you don’t. You can guess how I vote but I didn’t exhort anyone to follow my lead. I won’t get pissed if you voted for Giant Douche instead of Turd Sandwich. I won’t even ask. I try to stick with motorcycles and grouse; because I can.
I voted. I went there in person, on the day, at the location appropriate for where I live. I had my ID, regardless of whether it was required. I always have my ID, most adults do.
I was wearing my “frightening to the coastal elite” uniform. A hat from a mountain outfitter (useful if you want to smack inattentive doctors). My t-shirt is 30 years old. I got it at a coffee shop in Wyoming. The shop probably no longer exists, but I won’t toss clothes until they’re truly worn out. My pants are smeared (non-ironically!) with grease. I was working in my shop before I voted. And I have a foot long beard, because why the hell not? Whole city blocks in Boston have nightmares about me.
Maybe my vote matters. Statistically it doesn’t but statistics isn’t all things. At the very least I made it inconvenient to those who would use my slot on a registration database for their own ends. It ain’t much, but it’s honest.
Have a good day. Be kind to yourself. Give your wife a hug. Take the dog for an extra long walk today. Maybe you need a donut?
Do not despair! You don’t have to. Stupid shit is stupid shit and you didn’t do it. It happens. We fight it out. It either gets better or it doesn’t. Regardless, we die. Nobody cares what happened three election cycles ago when they face the eternal. You won’t either.
When California is three weeks into their third lawsuit, ride it out. When a pile of ballots turns up in a place even a child would know they shouldn’t be, hold your center. When there’s an inexplicable “water leak” in some location of particular statistical influence, proceed like you saw it coming. You did see it coming.
You can handle it. Be chill. Possibly even enjoy it. It’s not all bad. The fact that everyone on both sides is pissed off, that’s good. The “pretend it didn’t happen” phase is over. The next phase may suck. It may never happen. Or it might and we might straighten our shit out. Sometimes the Band Aid really does get ripped off. Sometimes healing really happens.
And if it doesn’t, who cares? It’s a cancer of the politically dependent; not you.
Good luck everyone.