Who’s the best?

If you spend any time reading forums or blogs on the internet these days you will almost inevitably run into somebody claiming that the problem with the leadership (or lack thereof) in this country is the fault of the voters, because, after all, they are the ones that put the current administration in office. While technically true, I have to ask, “Who were we supposed to elect?”

The 2008 Democratic Primary Election Ballot here in Arizona had 24 names on it. So even with 24 choices, nearly 93% of the votes were cast for Hillary or Obama (the only other candidate to get more than a fraction of a percent was John Edwards). So why, with that many to choose from, did we still only go for the top two player? That’s easy to answer, it all comes down to the almighty dollar. In this day and age you cannot get elected unless you have some incredibly deep pockets. We vote for Hillary and Obama, not because we are certain they are the best candidate for the job (how can we be certain when there are at least 18 names on the ballot we’re seeing for the first time?) but because they have the most most money, get the most TV/radio-talk-show time, get the most media attention, and the most print-space. We don’t get to choose the best person to represent our party in the big election, we get to choose the richest.

We’ll likely never know who the best person to be president is because that person doesn’t have the dough to make themselves known. The best thing we can do, as voters, is vote our conscience instead of our political party line, and fire those that betray us.

Get registered to vote and make your voice heard in November.

In Teenagers We Trust?

Last night my girlfriend and I decided to stop at Coldstone Creamery and get a little ice cream. We, naturally, got the “new girl” as a server. Now I have no problem with getting the trainee, we’ve all been there and done that, but when we tried to pay I had no choice but to be amazed some people manage to remember their way home every night. Our total bill came to $2.62 so, having a pocketful of gold dollar coins, I handed the girl three. She looked down at them, looked at me, and then looked over to her trainer who was helping another customer. After a second or two of inactivity, she looked back at me and said it would be a minute because she had to ask what she was supposed to do with those coins. I just stood there incredulously while my girlfriend politely pointed out that they were simply dollar coins. In the mean time the trainer had made her way to the cash register and confirmed our story saying “Yea, they’re dollars, just hit 3 enter.”  It made me wonder, did she think I had given her some tokens, or pirates gold? What exactly did she think those coins, engraved with George Washington, the Statue of Liberty, and a big $1, were?

I accept that many people might not have gotten their hands on some of these coins yet (they are the only coin stocked in our change machine at work, put in $5 and get 5 shiny new gold dollars) but somebody should certainly be able to ascertain whether a coin is legal tender or not. If it’s the first time you’ve been handed one I could understand marveling at them for a minute, as I did the first time I got a stack of 20 from the change machine. But having their presence bring you to a complete stop until you could get direction on how to proceed? That’s bordering on the ridiculous. And I won’t even go into the details of her attempt to make change other than to say the $.38 she tried to give me did not involve quarters. I feel bad for the trainer; hopefully they have plenty of patience.

My trip to Cancun

Last year I worked my ass off. As a result, I was awarded a trip to Cancun, Mexico, to the Moon Palace Resort for my company’s Service Conference. What can I say, it was paradise. (my Flickr photo set – Opens in new window)

Here is a compilation I made.