How Voting Affected Me: A Humourless Mini-Adventure

I was in a chapel this morning. It is the first time I have been in an explicitly religious building for a number of years, as it was only ever school events that took me in there. I suppose the last time I was in this particular chapel was the last time a big election came around, although I think they may have been the local ones rather than the nationals, I could be wrong however.

I was surprised by how quiet the place was, given that there has been so much talk of expectations of a high turnout. I originally wrote that sentence to read 'an unexpectedly high turnout expected' which would have made me look a fool. When I wandered into the chapel/polling station at about 10:30, there was little evidence of a mass turnout. I suppose there may have been earlier in the day, and perhaps there is another influx happening as I type this (around 6pm), now that people will be back from work.

I frightened myself slightly by being groundlessly judgemental of the other people there, and chirpy old man who looked slightly loose in the head, and the stocky man who seemed to be having some difficulty navigating the list to tick off my name. I began to wonder whether I believe that the opinions of these dubious figures deserved to hold the same amount of sway that mine did. For I am wise beyond my years, kind of heart and full to the brim with fairness and righteousness! I slew the old man, gouged out the eyes of the envigilators (is that what they are?), and lay waste to the ballot box. I holed up in the chapel, turning the polling room into a makeshift stronghold, allowing only those who I deemed to be politically sound to vote. I am now in charge of the world.

I feel I played that up enough for the facetiousness to have come through enough.

I was displeased with my own knee-jerk reaction to seeing these other people, who, for some reason, I automatically assumed would be voting differently to me. I think I was annoyed by the knowledge that no matter how strong my various beliefs the most I could do in that instant was cast that one vote, and further annoyed by the knowledge that the system currently in place is flawed to the point that manufactured constituency boundaries and the first past the post system mean that everyone's vote isn't, in reality, equal. There seems to be a head of steam building up in terms of fighting for reform, so hopefully that will come to fruition.

I've been focusing on the negatives since then really, envisioning every day as a series of petty struggles, mostly focused on how my existence seems centred around coercing others (mostly kids and my dog) into certain kinds of behaviour. Specifically, behaviour which doesn't give me a headache. I am not overly successful in these struggles at this point in time, hopefully I will be able to level up or unlock a new limit break soon which will allow me to quell the various annoying insurrections. The main problem with the world is everyone else on it.

Sorry everyone else.

I am a miserable git.

I just thought of a character called Rick Pomposity. I say character, at the moment it is just a name. Good name though.

I think he would be a shouty/preachy American comic who thinks he is holding a mirror up to society where in fact he is actually just a douchebag. Whatever one of them is.

This is the end of the post.