Of Ballots and Beer, and Going Straight

It’s Saturday and Tuesday is Election Day. Which means one thing.

Stock up on the beer. Because on Tuesday, there will be nary a beer to be bought, at least until the polls close at 6 p.m. It’s part of Kentucky’s archaic law that bans alcohol sales on Election Day. The only other state that clings to this practice is South Carolina. So the policy’s Election Day blue laws do make our great commonwealth somewhat unique.

Apparently, there was some legitimate logic behind the law when it was first enacted. Some polling places used to be in bars (talk about a way to get the voters out!) and politicians would attend to “buy” votes with free drinks to the patrons. Thus, it provided reason for such prohibition.

Obviously, though, these days the law is outdated. Alcohol establishments no longer serve as polling places, though plenty of schools do. Perhaps voters could be bribed with crayons or mechanical pencils? So of late (just this year, in fact) there have been efforts within the state legislature to eradicate the law. So far those efforts have not been fruitful. So as of now, the law stands.

Actually, it really doesn’t bother me that I can’t buy alcohol on Election Day until after the polls close. Is the law stupid? Yes. But I figure I can survive one day (and a partial day at that) just fine without purchasing alcohol. It’s another thing that Kentucky doesn’t disallow that has me irked.

Straight ticket voting. Kentucky is one of only 15 states that allow straight ticket voting. Other states used to have it, but ultimately eliminated the option. Basically, straight ticket voting allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates by pushing a single button or making a single ballot marking on the ballot. Thus, with that one vote (or punch, or whatever type of ballot a particular polling place uses), a voter can vote for every candidate in a single party for each office on the ballot.

Wow, sounds convenient, right? No having to sort through all those names. But that’s just the problem.

My take on it is that if Kentucky expects its constituents to stay sober when voting (as is evidenced by banning alcohol sales on Election Day), then at the very least voters should be required to actually read the names of the people they are voting for. They may just find out by reading the names that someone who they would have voted for under a straight ticket is someone that they don’t want in office at all!

My other concern about straight ticket voting is that if voters mark a straight ticket, they may think they are done. Yet there may be other things on the ballot that they do not give attention to and won’t vote on because they voted a straight ticket. Such as local nonpartisan races. Or local referendums. Maybe even a constitutional amendment or two.

Thus, straight ticket voting may present a slippery slope to casting a ballot. As for me, I think I’ll actually read the ballot and encourage others to do so. It’s always good to know exactly who you are voting for.

Of course, I will vote this Tuesday – always proud to be part of the democratic process and have my voice heard through my vote. And on Tuesday night, as the polls close and the counts start to come in, I’ll be the first to want it, the first to do it, the first to say it. It will be a simple request.

Get me a beer.

Strategy or Spaghetti?

My oldest son says he wants to be a doctor. He’s been saying that for a while now so I’m guessing as he starts out college next year his intentions will be to start out on that path. Good for him. So many kids his age have no idea what they want to do when they grow up.

But what if he gets into it and finds out the doctoring thing isn’t right for him? Will there be a Plan B? Depends on how he approaches life, I guess. Maybe it’s contingent on how good he is at putting his life’s plan into place.

It’s a lot to expect from someone so young – figuring out how to set about living what’s left of (hopefully) a very long life. But I think if it’s at all possible, it’s something young people should give some thought to. I know I didn’t.

My strategic approach toward life has been minimalist at best. Really, my life plan has been pretty general – go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, keep working, retire and live happily ever after.

I guess it was something, at least. But I think my one major regret in life is my failure to map out a more detailed life plan for myself. But then, who really thinks about that during the throes of youth? You have your whole life to figure out what you’re going to do, what you’re going to achieve, how you’re going to get there, right? But I’m not young anymore. And now I’m middle-aged and still wondering.

My general plan seemed to work for me up to a point. I just carried on with my life and took advantage of opportunities as they came. It worked, until a few years ago, when I really started to ponder what I was really meant to do.

And now a couple of years later – after having had time to think about it and earn a master’s degree to boot – I’m still as clueless as ever. A life in limbo. Unfortunately, when you’re stuck in limbo, there is a tendency at times to wonder whether you’ve wasted your life. Distorted thoughts creep in and begin to tell you that you wouldn’t be in this position had you not wasted your life. Whether or not my career has been a failure is something I can’t discern at this point. Fortunately, all I have to do is look at my three beautiful children to know that my life has had some purpose.

As for my career, though, right now I’m figuratively taking spaghetti and throwing it to the wall, hoping something will stick. Each piece of pasta represents something. One piece might represent a total career change. Other pieces might represent various positions I’ve applied for. Another piece might represent my current small (very small) business. Still, other pieces might represent specific specialized niches that perhaps I should more deeply explore.

Right now I’m on the small business track, seeing where that will take me. Will it work out? At this point, I don’t know. But if you liken it to pasta, I guess it has just as much of a chance of sticking as anything else.

In the meantime, I’m watching my three precious boys continue to grow up. The oldest is a young man now – so handsome and self-confident. We took him on his first college visit last week. I can’t wait for him to enter that new, exciting stage of his life – young adulthood.

And while I know that right now he is just a kid, I hope that he will come out of a college with a plan, a roadmap, some strategy for how he wants to take on life. At least I hope he and my other two sons will be a little more focused than I was. Regardless, I’ll love them with all my heart. But I do have that wish for them.

Because slinging spaghetti ain’t where it’s at.