Make a real difference

            It looks as if chain-link fences know every candidate and proposition, but they’re confused as to who is right. In Hawaii it’s unlawful to have large signs anywhere. I remember candidates standing by the side of the road, waving like shore-bound Liverpool residents bidding farewell to the Titanic. Regardless of who the waving candidate was, I always smiled and waved enthusiastically back as if they were my favorite celebrity. They would smile harder and their wave would strengthen.

     Nowadays I am spared most campaign ads thanks to having no TV and keeping the commercial radio stations at least at low volume. Fences and hills are covered with signs all over my area. I don’t see the point in them. They seem as persuasive and/or useful as a telemarketing call. Of course they can’t convince me of anything. My mind is made up. I know what I want in this election.

     I will tell you what I want in a presidential candidate. The ideal president would be about five feet, eight inches tall and about 200 pounds. He would have blue eyes that looked partly closed most of the time, a big nose and mostly straight brown hair. He would have a penchant for crooked smiles and raising one eyebrow and even duck lips when being photographed. His voice would be tenor/bass with clear diction but a nasal quality to it.

     I don’t mean I want to be president. I just want the president to just be a dead ringer for me. (I hope that sentence doesn’t trigger any FBI alerts) I would love to work part time as a presidential impersonator. If the chief exec looked just like me I could make big bucks doing my own advertisements for car dealerships or mattress outlets.

     That’s what I want in a president; someone who I can get rich off of. Doesn’t everyone want that?

     Maybe not. I really think that most people want what’s best for everyone. Sorry, I wasn’t really being selfish, just trying to be a little silly. I don’t want a different line of work. I honestly do love my custodial job. I don’t mind cleaning up stuff. I set up and break down and even do a little security. If my job sounds a little similar to the president, the similarity ends with the great people I work with and the positive feedback I get. I don’t know why anyone would want to be the president anyway. So I am skeptical of any candidate.

     Why would anyone want that job? Oh, sure they might accomplish a lot and then get glory for it and written up in history books. Is that why? I don’t know.

Here is what I do know: I am not as responsible for what the president does as much as I am for what I do. It’s real people out of the spotlight that make the biggest difference in the world. I am still astounded by the dozens of volunteers at my church for children’s events and ministry to the hungry. Those are men and women down on the front lines making a difference in real lives. And they don’t do it because they were voted into anything. They serve in God’s name because that’s what we were called to do. I don’t want to diminish the importance of voting. But I don’t think putting my favorite person in office will make as much of a difference as I can personally do. If every candidate I wanted was in office it wouldn’t exempt me from stepping up. Regardless of who is elected, the real work to make a difference will continue.