WARREN PIECE: Don't bother voting, someone else will
Don't bother going to the meet-the-candidate events, either. They're at 6:30 p.m. tonight - Wednesday - at Wright City Middle School and 3 p.m. April 6 at Friedens United Church of Christ in Warrenton.
Bo-ring.Surely there will be something good on TV. For instance, there's that 10th rerun of "America's Funniest Home Videos." Who wouldn't rather see someone get hit in the groin with a tuba?
I mean, why be an informed voter? There's always the eenie-meenie-minee-mo method.
In fact, why bother going to vote at all in a local election? There's no such thing as an important local issue, right?
OK, sure these are the people who decide how much local taxes you pay on your home, your car, your groceries and everything you buy locally.
They make decisions on where we can park, on our local parks, the standards for our homes and businesses, our water rates, our business dealings, how our tax money is spent.
So what if these are the people making the final call on school district practices and policies, teacher salaries, land purchases, financing and capital projects?
Hey, you can always send your kid to a private school. Of course, the public school district still spends your tax money. Easy come, easy go, right?
OK, so it's not so much "easy come," is it? Come to think of it, it's not easy letting go of that cash, is it?
Sure, they oversee our police, our city workers. These are the people you call when you've got a complaint about your neighborhood.
And sure, these are the people who give the go-ahead on things such as zoning ordinances. But who wouldn't like an industrial area in their backyard?
Hey, nothing ever changes anyway, right? OK, so maybe Warren County has changed a lot in the past several years with new homes and businesses going up.
OK, so maybe with these economic times it would be nice if businessmen bearing jobs decided to bring a boatload of high-paying jobs to Warren County.
Sure, it would be nice to have more medical services or an opportunity to take a college course without driving the equivalent of the Daytona 500.
OK, so the right public servant in the right place just might matter.
But really, doesn't your neighbor - the one who tried to fix his lawn mower with a hammer - know more about this stuff than you? Let him pick your aldermen, your mayor and your school board.
And the little old lady down the street - the one with all the cats - surely she'll know whom to vote for. So what if she spends all her time knitting booties for her 16 cats? Or is it 18? Saw she had two brown spotted ones today.
Then, there's all those kids who just turned 18.
Leave it up to them.
You really only need to have an informed vote if you think stuff such as schools, taxes and businesses are important. OK, and your living conditions and standards.
But, the big presidential election is coming up. You can save up your vote for November. So what if you stand a better chance of affecting a local election - and your life - where you're one of hundreds or a couple thousand voters rather than one of millions.
But, what the heck. Blow off voting this year. You can always use the free time to gripe by calling in to Town Talk. Hey, everybody's gotta have a hobby.
