It Feels A Little Silly

I know you feel it too.

The first week of November is approaching and I’m overthinking.

I think about the neighbor with the rainbow flag and the sign that says “Love Lives Here” directly across from the neighbor with the “Let’s Go Brandon” flag and the bumper sticker on his F150 that reads, “I identify as a Prius.” I think about how they live on the fault line and wonder if they’d help each other if The Big One hit. Is an earthquake enough to bring them together?

I think about the ad for the pet sitter that we posted on Craigslist. How the responses felt like cries for help. How we expected to hear from college students and work-from-home animal lovers and instead received couples, people already working full time, and a single mom whose son was in the Navy. I think about how they’re doing everything they can, and it’s not enough. How they may all be voting differently, but they all feel the same.

I think about my mechanic. How he felt bad telling me how much it would cost to fix the AC in my wife’s car. How he looked defeated when he explained that the state of California discovered that the freon they were using in all the vehicles up until 2021 was not great for the environment, so they made a new one, but it costs the consumer 10 times as much. And the price was high because it was new and it was supposed to go down, but that was 4 years ago. And all the mechanics were required to buy a new machine to properly utilize the new stuff, but that costs $15,000. I think about how my mechanic said he has asthma, so he had to buy the new machine because they can’t afford to risk any leakages, but the other mechanics in town can’t afford the new machine, so they just drain the stuff into the air. Into the atmosphere. And somewhere, there are Californian politicians who are very proud of themselves for saving the earth. 

I think about the t-shirt on the official Donald Trump merchandise store that says “MAGADonald’s” and shows a picture of him as a minimum wage earner working at a drive-thru. I think about the “Kamala is brat” stickers, and the campaign workers who had to explain that to her. I think about how everything from cheeseburgers to political races to the news coverage of wars and missing children is just a marketing competition.

I think about Pharrell’s diplomatic response to the PETA protester who crashed his film premiere - “God bless you. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the changes…they don’t happen overnight.” I think about media training. I think about whether the animals have considered firing PETA and making a “reptiles are brat” bumper sticker—how with the right slogan, a change probably could happen overnight. 

I think about how I will, in a week’s time, take my little ballot, and grip my little pen, and I’ll darken the little circle because I was told in elementary school that I have a voice. I think of how similar it feels to the way I was taught to pray. How I figured I might as well do it, because the risk of not doing it was too dangerous, even if it feels a little silly. And I will join everyone in screaming into the void. Because the risk of not doing it is too dangerous, even if it feels a little silly.

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In case you missed it, I will be playing two shows at this close of this year. Tickets can be purchased at the link below. Also, congratulations to the paid subscribers who won tickets to the giveaway last week.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

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THE RECORD CLUB

Last week’s selection was The Jam - The Gift (1982)

You can find my ramblings on last week’s record in the comment section below.

This week’s selection is…

Week #17
REM - Murmur (1983)