Democracy in Action!

I have done my civic duty and voted today. Thankfully, Illinois has early voting so I was able to get out and cast my vote before election day. And business was brisk at the polling location today, too! I wasn't the only one in Evanston voting early and that's good. People should get out and vote. Let your voice be heard! I've done what I can do to stop Donny T's second act. Ugh. Just thinking about that guy returning to power makes me physically ill. But I'm not going to make myself crazy worrying about the future or about things I can't control. I firmly believe in voting and having your voice heard through the ballot box and it amazes me when I hear American citizens saying they're not going to vote because they don't like the candidates or some nonsense like that. No one person is going to be all things to all people. No one politician is going to solve all of the country's problems. But you have to vote for the candidate(s) you feel will do the best to move this country forward and serve its citizens. And, in this upcoming presidential election, there wasn't even a question about which candidate I preferred. I don't even understand how, this late in the game, some people are still undecided. Give me a break. Whatever. Just go and vote.

  

Overused and Overexposed

Why do I keep seeing those Kelce brothers in one TV commercial after another? They're selling cereal, soup, whatever. Stop the madness! Would these guys even have these product deals if one of them wasn't dating Taylor Swift? Maybe, but probably not although I recall seeing Travis host SNL and I didn't know who he was then (but I thought he did a good job on the show especially for the American Girl skit). I know I'm not the demographic for these guys, but I feel like they're overexposed right now. Aren't there some other athletes in line for an endorsement deal?

I had to go into the office for my day job yesterday to find some paperwork and scan it for a coworker at another location and, while I was out for lunch, I was walking behind some young women talking. One of them just kept using the word "like" over and over. Later in the evening, I stopped by my local Whole Foods to pick up an Amazon order I had shipped here and I was, again, stuck walking behind some young women who were having a conversation and the same thing happened. One just kept talking and putting the word "like" into her sentences over and over. "I, like, did, like, the wrong thing and, like, everything, like, went wrong..." Those weren't either woman's exact words, but you get the gist. God, just listening to both of these young women made me want to walk into traffic. Their voices were grating to me because they just sounded so stupid. I'm sure neither woman was actually dumb, but the way they spoke made me feel like I was losing brain cells just being in the same vicinity as they were! I use "like" also (although not as much as the women I heard yesterday) and I hate that I do it. I try very hard to avoid using that filler word because that's what it is: a filler. It's unnecessary in probably 95% of sentences. Unless you're using "like" to talk about your admiration for a person, place, or thing (I really like Mike's new car) or "like" compare people, places, or things (Sally looks just like her brother), you probably don't need to use it in a sentence. And I don't think people write "like" when they're sending emails or texts. (John, I, like, need the August distribution numbers so, like, can you, like, send them me by, like, Friday?) or (Meet me, like, at 10 at, like Joe's house). So why do people feel the need to insert that useless word into daily conversation? It's, like, annoying.