thankfulness and the election

A few words on the election and thankfulness:

This will likely offend some people, but the very people who find it offensive would likely learn a few things if they sat back and reflected on this and how it pertains to them.

I am amazed. Totally and utterly amazed that the very same people who have been making a “what I am thankful for” post every day are so enraptured with this election and its results that they have completely lost the ability to reflect on those very things. The things you were thankful for yesterday: your health, the health of your family, your home, food in your belly, etc…..all those things have NOT disappeared since last night. I think it’s a slap in the face to all those who live in areas where they aren’t free, or those who are terminally ill, or those who don’t have a roof over their heads for you to carry on like you can’t continue to live because the election did not go your way. We found out yesterday that someone we know has been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. I bet she couldn’t care less who was elected.

Spare me the bullshit “America is going down the crapper” speech. I get it. Obama is not an ideal president. But what I would love more than anything – especially more than the patriotic “save our country” bit – is if you would tell me what specifically has happened in the last four years that has directly affected you. No, I don’t mean that you have to work and the person in front of you in line used food stamps to buy steaks and drove off in an Escalade. I don’t mean how it makes you upset that we don’t test welfare recipients. I don’t even mean how you don’t think you will get to retire because of the state of Social Security. I mean real things that are happening now that affect you in a direct way that you can feel in your everyday life.

For me personally, the only thing that will affect me is the 3.6% tax I will pay when I finally sell my home. Aside from that, I can’t think of a single solitary thing. I’m sure there are and will be others. Don’t get me wrong, there are things I am concerned with – how some policies will potentially affect businesses in a way that may hurt our family’s income – but in the end, he has been elected and it’s OVER. Carrying on about it now does nothing to change what has happened or what will. I exercised my right to vote. I explained how elections work to my daughter and told her in a way that she would understand why we voted the way we did. But for me to cry over this, to be unable to function outside of what’s happening, to all but throw a tantrum over it does nothing but set a bad example for my child of how one behaves when things don’t go their way.

If my saying this has pissed you off, I apologize. Not for pissing you off, but for the fact that you are potentially missing the forest for the trees. Go on with your life. Hug your spouse and your kids. Cook a good meal for dinner tonight – not to celebrate the election of the president, but to celebrate the fact that you live in a home with electricity and can afford ingredients to cook said meal. Take a fraction of the time you’ve spent being upset over what has happened to volunteer at a hospital or a shelter. Go on. It’s not a betrayal to your beliefs or values to do so. It’s what Mitt would have wanted you to do! (I don’t know that for sure, but that may be the only thing that gets some people to move on!)

And now I’m going to tell you the things I am thankful for. Not the big ones like my husband, family, kids, home, health. I’m going to tell you about some of the little things that, though small, make me happy and thankful.

I’m thankful for Coke. Not Diet Coke, though I love it as well, but real Coke with sugar and caffeine and little bubbles filled with joy in every sip.

I’m thankful for stretchy pants, without which I may never leave the house.

I’m thankful for flip flops and to live in a place where I can wear them all but five months out of the year.  

I’m thankful to have good grammar and punctuation for the most part. I’m thankful that I know when to use your vs you’re and their vs they’re.

I’m thankful I don’t generally have to deal with stupid people every day. I have friends who do through no fault of their own and it breaks my heart.

I’m thankful for cheese.

I’m thankful for my new flat stomach and perky boobs. Oh yeah.

I’m thankful for my smokin’ hot husband J

I’m thankful for Pottery Barn sales.

I’m thankful for non-fluorescent lighting in dressing rooms.

I’m thankful for commercial free TV courtesy of my DVR.

Most of all I’m thankful to be able to spout all this off and let the chips fall where they may.