Sick and Tired

        The four guys were sitting at their usual table at the local coffee shop. Phil, the oldest of the bunch was sitting between Arnold the youngest guy and Lamar, the second oldest. I was at the other end of the table.
        When I say oldest and youngest I mean their ages are all somewhere in the sixties and early seventies. I’ve known these guys for years.
        The talk got around to politics, as it usually does.
        Lamar spoke, the people at the next table to ours could see and hear that Lamar was getting agitated. “I don’t know about you guys, but what’s going on with our governments, all of them, local, state and federal is driving me nuts. These governments are going broke. One by one, our cities are declaring bankruptcy. Not only that, but the damn campaigning for president has become downright dumb and silly. Silly, if it wasn’t so important!”
        Phil gave the table top a slap and said, “Amen. All I see with this presidential campaign is one guy says something and the other guy calls him a liar. The man who wants to be president claims the president isn’t doing anything to help the American people and the President says ‘yes, I am.” And it goes on and on, month after month. Meanwhile us Americans sit around watching this circus on television, getting numbed into ignorant complacency.”
        It was a muggy day. We could feel it even inside the coffee shop. Arnold took his coffee shop napkin and wiped his brow. The hot coffee wasn’t helping his rising temperature.
        “Let me tell you how I feel. All I want to do is live in a bubble and not pay attention to all that stuff you guys are talking about. I’m sick of hearing these politicians destroy each other and their parties. I’m sick of hearing about millions of people out of work. Of bitching about a health plan. Of one party doing nothing but complain about what the other party does. I’m sick of hearing how one party’s goal is to see our president fail. Imagine – telling Americans that they want our president to fail. What happened to America? I’m sick and tired of all of this.” Arnold stopped talking. A frown spread on his face.
        Phil listened, took a sip of his coffee, pushed his chair back and stood up.
        “I’ve been listening to you guys. You’ve been saying what I’ve been thinking for a long time. I’ve been thinking about our country and politics today and I’ve come to the conclusion that most of us are very naïve. We tend to believe what we see on TV or read in the paper or hear on the radio or see on the internet. We don’t ask questions or look into claims or rely on filters. You know, filters like those web sites that say they check into the facts. We hear politicians make promises or companies make claims. We are suckers for good news or what talking heads say. We form our opinions from what we have been taught by our families, schools, friends and people who we think should know. We say we don’t have enough time or we just don’t take the time to check out the things we hear. To be truthful sometimes things are just too complicated for us to understand. The politicians in Washington, D.C. actually admitted that they didn’t read the health care bill before they voted on it. We hear of a guy in Florida who shoots a youngster and we decide if he is innocent or guilty before the body is cold and we hear the facts. The world is very complicated and life in general gets more complex by the day. Health care, defense, global warming, crime in our neighborhoods, millions of Americans unemployed, our children and drugs. All of this is difficult to understand. What we need are some honest, hard working, incorruptible people in government who will help solve these problems and be truthful with us.”
        The people in the coffee shop were listening to Phil. A couple at the next table softly began to applaud as he sat down. Then the people at two more tables began clapping. In a few seconds everyone including the employees were standing, applauding Phil’s remarks.
        A man by the entrance kept applauding as he leaned towards his wife, “Damn, that guy said what I’ve wanted to say for a long time. Damn. That’s exactly how I feel.”
        His wife, kept applauding, looked at her husband and said, “Isn’t it time you guys started doing something about it!”
        The applause continued for some time.

Democracy re-born