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“We have met the enemy and he is us.” – Walt Kelly’s Pogo, 1971

I made a choice not to care on Tuesday, when, along with 91% of my fellow eligible primary voters, I found more important things to do than to decide the future of Charlotte. I cared more about where to have lunch, what movie to see next, or how late to sleep Sunday morning than I did about my next Mayor and City Council.

These ordinary acts of choosing and not choosing do change the direction of my life.

I thought my vote didn’t matter. That buying the Big Gulp didn’t matter or not recycling just this once didn’t matter. I thought GMOs can’t be all bad. These are my passive daily choices.

Yes, Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Thank you for turning the finger and pointing at me.

But I do care and things do matter. I want active choices in my life and what happens around me. My one vote does count. Walking past things in the store is a good choice. Thinking more about what I need and less about what I want helps me make better choices. Every swipe or click is a vote for the city and a world I want live in.

Voting is how I show that I care. Votes at the local level, and in the primaries, say I care deeply.

What do you think? Are you in the 91% or not, and why?

Is it really always about those people, or could it be about me? Are there ways I can make a difference? Tell me the choices you care about?

As always, the conversation starts here.

“In the ordinary choices of every day we begin to change the direction of our lives.”
– Eknath Easwaran

Disclaimer

For the record, I voted on September 8 at CPCC, 1325 East 7th and posted on FaceBook about how fast and easy it was, even speedier than ordering a Big Gulp at the drive-thru.