Reflections From (Not) Watching the Presidential Debate
I did not watch the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
I was napping for the first hour, with forgotten dreams passing through my mind.
At 9:15 CST, I awoke. Our eight-week-old panda pug puppy demanded my full attention. I prepared her a quarter-can of warmed soft wholesome chicken mush(which our puppy loves). Adele is her name. How fitting, as her bark hits those high notes while she trots around her apartment reminding us who is in charge. She relentlessly runs from one end of our townhouse to the other, tipping “Hello, from the other side.” She bounces up our stairs(a tough feat for a pug of only five or so pounds) and pleads with loving eyes for me to “go easy on her” as I chase after her.
After successfully drawing Adele’s attention to the latest relocated puppy bone which keeps her from carving our lamp stand with her ceaselessly sharpening teeth, the only debate I have is the internal dialogue over what other programs I can stream. That is at least half as riveting as the pressing political issues of the day. I am not in the mood to watch anything on Amazon Prime, which has its inflating enticements inviting me to buy more subscriptions. I don’t want to watch 90s sitcoms on Hulu that bring those rose-colored lenses. Unlike Kamala Harris’s message that “we are not going back,” those shows sometimes are too much of a reminder that we can’t go back to the good times of yesteryear. I settle for YouTube comedy videos. I cannot get enough of those Dry Bar Comedy channel acts. What humor you can find even without mixers or chasers!
As Adele has found temporary satisfaction with her rubber squeaky bone chew toy, I laugh out loud at a comedian as he reflects on aging, marriage, and adult children. “My dad told me when I got married that you can either be happy or right for the rest of your life.”
I’ve heard this before, and it always calls a grin. However, I learned early on in my married life that your spouse can tell if you are just acquiescing to avoid tensions and thus you cannot genuinely be happy. And when is anyone ever 100% right or 99.8% wrong? Isn’t it usually the case that for any topic or problem, each side is touching on parts of what is true and valuable and not seeing other parts? Like with any other relationship or domain, spouses must learn to consider where the other is coming from and make room for their side while also not breaking from their own perspective. I do not think that is happening as Kamala and Donald debate.
At around 10:15 p.m., I finally put Adele to bed in her kennel. It’s not necessarily mean to use the crate for dogs, I’ve now read. As with our previous small canine children, my wife and I have learned that dogs can feel safe and comfortable in their kennels. Adele knows it is time to sleep and that playtime will be there for her tomorrow. As I craft this writing, I watch an old episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent on some cable channel. Commercials keep reeling for some rare form of Omega-3 found off the shores of New Zealand. Now do these actually work, I wonder? The countless debates we could hold about that amazing topic. Sadly, the fish may not agree.
As I find myself dozing off to sleep, I remember that tomorrow is 9/11. I say a quick prayer for those victims of such an unthinkable tragedy that occurred 23 years ago. It still seems like yesterday when I was a junior in high school and a friend ran up to tell me the horrible news about the World Trade Center. For many of the last Gen Xers or earlier millennials, this devastating event was a tragic awakening to how unimaginably dark and horrendous the world can be.
But as you grow older, you find how life dances between the good and bad. Unlimited riches that unfold each second counterbalance any unimaginably terrifying ordeals that sadly do occur. Everything that was lost on that unforgettable day has and is being restored. Any challenges and threats humanity faces today — from climate change to wars to societal tensions — can and will be mitigated, ended, and overcome. There are just as many wondrous and numinous realities today as there were in previous eras. And the best is yet to come.
