Election Day Proves You Can Teach an Old Dog at Least One New Trick

Confession time.

Wheel in the single light bulb recreating a scene from “Deutschland 83.” Let’s add an interrogator to left of the bulb who is gifted in non-verbal communications.

OK, I’m ready.

I had never voted in a public election — casting my ballot to get Stanley Telson elected as our fifth grade homeroom rep doesn’t count — until yesterday.

I know. I know. It’s absolutely pathetic. For the longest time, I rationalized this decision as my vote wouldn’t make a difference and that the country seems to chug along just fine without my participation. Call it apathy in its worst form.

But the one-two punch of today’s White House and my wife pointing out the stupidity — her word wasn’t quite as gentle — of my positon prompted me to change my ways.

This passage from the New York Times rang true for me though I didn’t run for office or volunteer: “The president unwittingly galvanized a new generation of activism, inspiring hundreds of thousands angered, and a little disoriented, by his unexpected triumph to make their first foray into politics as volunteers and candidates.”

Good adjective, “unwittingly.”

While I still can’t find enthusiasm for selecting an Insurance Commissioner, ground zero in the Santa Clara County building delivered a microcosm of America. People of all shapes and sizes participating in democracy with the belief that their vote absolutely makes a difference.

Being the optimistic sort, I’m moving forward thinking that the glass is half full — hey, could have waited another 10 years — and life in America will take a turn for the better now and in 2020.

And yes, I’m now a believer myself.