The kids aren't just okay...so why don't we listen?
My arms hurt from pounding in election signs. My head rattles all night long with questions such as "could you do more?" I awaken from my sleep, counting signs, counting marks.
Because I am on the election trail. Something I've done now for 25 years (though never this intensely). The one thing I've ever done that I believe makes a real difference to the community in which I live.
And, hey! I'm the old guy with time...and a truck; and a thirty-something candidate that just, well, blows this old guy out of the water. Every day. For the last six weeks, and, hopefully, for many more years. This young, brilliant teacher who quit his job to use dance, music and theatre to help at-risk kids find their way. This guy who would rather become an entrepreneur than toil away into oblivion as an English/French teacher...even though he held a job that most of his fellow graduates would die for (and, to his credit, Drew Moore would probably berate me for ending a sentence in a preposition).
And every day, one of the smartest--and as Jason Townsend calls himself--most unemployed post-graduate thirty-somethings ever, shows up at my house and we go out and work for Drew. We erect signs, we repair and replace them. Sometimes we remove them...though not too often, and usually due to a mistake. And Jason impresses me almost as much as Drew.
Here I am at 60, working with people half my age who still believe in our political system; who still believe in social justice; who still believe that politics is not just a cynical system of marketing your candidate, but the foundation of this wonderful place and time in which we live (note, Drew, no dangling preposition).
And I am so tired...and so impressed by Jason, Drew, young Abad Khan in Fairview and my dear friend Tanis Crosby--another 30-something candidate in the adjacent riding. You kids...Wow! You are so inspiring!
Tomorrow, the election results may show that our generation has failed. Polling shows we may get results that are anathema to everything we have fought for (but not that I have wrongly dangled another preposition). But there are so many bright lights that shine through this, no matter the results.
The kids are not just okay. They are our future. And though we may reject them, this old guy is so invigorated by this new, very smart generation.
My arms hurt from pounding in election signs. My head rattles all night long with questions such as "could you do more?" I awaken from my sleep, counting signs, counting marks.
Because I am on the election trail. Something I've done now for 25 years (though never this intensely). The one thing I've ever done that I believe makes a real difference to the community in which I live.
And, hey! I'm the old guy with time...and a truck; and a thirty-something candidate that just, well, blows this old guy out of the water. Every day. For the last six weeks, and, hopefully, for many more years. This young, brilliant teacher who quit his job to use dance, music and theatre to help at-risk kids find their way. This guy who would rather become an entrepreneur than toil away into oblivion as an English/French teacher...even though he held a job that most of his fellow graduates would die for (and, to his credit, Drew Moore would probably berate me for ending a sentence in a preposition).
And every day, one of the smartest--and as Jason Townsend calls himself--most unemployed post-graduate thirty-somethings ever, shows up at my house and we go out and work for Drew. We erect signs, we repair and replace them. Sometimes we remove them...though not too often, and usually due to a mistake. And Jason impresses me almost as much as Drew.
Here I am at 60, working with people half my age who still believe in our political system; who still believe in social justice; who still believe that politics is not just a cynical system of marketing your candidate, but the foundation of this wonderful place and time in which we live (note, Drew, no dangling preposition).
And I am so tired...and so impressed by Jason, Drew, young Abad Khan in Fairview and my dear friend Tanis Crosby--another 30-something candidate in the adjacent riding. You kids...Wow! You are so inspiring!
Tomorrow, the election results may show that our generation has failed. Polling shows we may get results that are anathema to everything we have fought for (but not that I have wrongly dangled another preposition). But there are so many bright lights that shine through this, no matter the results.
The kids are not just okay. They are our future. And though we may reject them, this old guy is so invigorated by this new, very smart generation.
