An easy choice for a topic this time: the primary elections. If it has somehow slipped your mind, mark it on your calendar! As the LGBT community becomes stronger, we must exercise this new power to protect our personal safety and to demonstrate a serious commitment to the political, spiritual and maternal rights we value. Through careful thought and examination of their policy statements and comments, we can decide which candidates, gay or straight, will best serve those interests. This is not an easy task. The ads and speeches are filled with misleading statements, deliberate omissions and outright lies. Listening critically is a must. Be careful of the “Something Should Be Done” type of speech which I banned in my public speaking classes. This is the one in which a problem is carefully and beautifully explained and then is suddenly ended with “Something should be done about this. Thank you.” What a cop-out. We are familiar with the problem. We want the solution. If the candidates do nothing but criticize the status quo and rant about a problem without going further and offering a solution, why vote for them? Agreed, there are no easy answers to the many complicated issues facing the city and state, but we should vote for people who at least offer some semblance of a solution and stand a chance of implementing it. There is also the problem of people feeling, “It’s just a primary; why waste my time voting?” Too many eligible and needed voters ascribe to this sad and dangerous way of thinking. The lack of participation will allow the wrong people to win. By doing our duty and voting in the primary, we will have helped to make sure our candidates will be on the vital final ballot. So walk, drive, ride or crawl to your polling station June 3 and vote. If you don’t, don’t bitch about the results later.
Tabloids are truthful (allegedly)
What to do when the person in front of the cash register waits until the total bill has been rung up before opening their handbag, finding and carefully counting the required bills before searching a coin purse for the 18 cents; or worse, getting out a check book, “Oh dear, now where is that pen. Hang on.” That is my cue to take a peek at the tabloids. How do they stay in business? No one buys them. Ask around. You’ll see, everyone denies purchasing one. I, myself, only occasionally skim them to kill time. One soon learns the stories have little to do with the screaming headlines; the final paragraph usually reveals it is all a vicious rumor and the writer is happy to clear it up. The stars mentioned are invariably dying, divorcing, dating, drying out or delivering. Many are participants on the talk or reality shows on which they shop, drink, bitch and expose their most private selves to all and sundry. I catch a few minutes of those dreadful programs when I channel surf for Nova or the History Channel. In the headline competition, Oprah wins. She is dying, recovering, happy, depressed, still in love, fed up with love, overweight again or dangerously thin. So far, she has not been declared pregnant. For seniors, this brings back memories of Confidential magazine which sold millions with no one buying it. Other people’s sins and foibles seem to be as popular today as then. For some reason guys in the gay community (why not the lesbians?) have a slight reputation for gossiping. True or not, the careful conversationist should make good use of the word “allegedly.” I mentioned this today to my coffee group about our dear friend who claimed to have a cold, but he told me in strictest confidence that really … oh dear, out of space; tell you later.
