No Chad Left Hanging

My story today is tragic. I tried to vote in a local, primary, mayoral election and was turned away. Apparently, though my address says Bloomington, my voting district is is not actually in the city. Therefore, I'm not qualified to vote in city elections. *sigh*

My disappointment aside, it's important to take advantage of opportunities to vote in local elections. Most people skip local elections, and I think it's because they think local elections have little bearing on their lives and, therefore, don't matter. In actuality, the opposite is true. Local elections actually effect our lives more directly than state and national elections because they're local. If they don't effect you and the community you live in, then who do they effect? They have to effect someone... Moreover, local elections are often decided by a seeming handful of votes because the pool of voters is small compared to that of state and national elections. This means a person's vote holds more weight in local elections than in any other election. To recap: your vote has more power and more direct effect on your life in local elections than in other elections. So, why do most people skip them?
As for primary elections: people often complain that they don't vote in general elections because they don't like any of the candidates. Primary elections give voters the opportunity to choose their general election options. www.votesmart.org

Don't worry, readers, I didn't skip my world bettering action of the day. I wasn't thwarted just because I didn't get to vote! Josh and I get coffee and a snack almost every day. Today, we drove a little farther and went to a not-for-profit coffee shop. All funds taken in at this business go to helping others. For example, they are currently donating all profits to relief efforts in Japan. Our purchase totaled about $8, which isn't much. BUT, there were probably 30 other customers having coffee and a snack at the same time, and we were only there 20 minutes. Imagine if all of those people went all day every day. The good adds up fast. :)