Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Today I toured Imagine! Print Solutions in Shakopee. Here’s a video about the place (watch the first three or four minutes at least, there’s some unexpected, quiky humor in there):
Anyway, after the tour, a co-worker and I stopped for lunch. The restaurant had TVs suspended from the ceiling and CNN was playing (I hate restaurants with TVs!).
When I glanced at the screen, I saw some footage of Rick Santorum. Suppressing the urge to vomit, I asked my co-worker if he had yet decided on how he planned to cast his vote for president this fall.
He repeated something he’d said to me once before: though he’s a lifelong Republican, he’s probably gonna vote for Obama.
Last time he said this, we were moments away from commencing a meeting a work. But this afternoon, there was no such event to get in our way. So I dug a little deeper.
Turns out, my co-worker is unimpressed with any of the main contenders for the Republican nomination. That’s no shock…but it also doesn’t mean that he has to vote for Obama. He could choose not to vote. Or he could vote a candidate who is affiliated with neither the Republican nor the Democratic party.
My co-worker explained that, though he did not vote for Obama in 2008, he has been impressed with the fact that Obama openly changes his mind.
Now, in today’s political climate, I think that’s really saying something. Most candidates continually bloviate about how wonderful they are for not changing their mind. Ever. The example that came to my mind while speaking with my co-worker was the Grover Norquist Pledge. My co-worker noted that, conversely, Obama stated during his campaign that he intended to close Guantanamo Bay but has since revised his stance.
He said his biggest issue with Obama is his healthcare reform. Two things in particular that he did not like:
1) The Democratic-controlled Congress rammed it through. My co-worker admitted that Republicans would – and have – done the same thing with their pet projects. But regardless of the party…he doesn’t like that behavior.
2) It’s just not the right time. Overall, he likes the reform per se, but felt giving it a priority during a sagging economy was not the most prudent course of action.
All in all, I found it a fascinating conversation. I am not engaged or well-read enough in the political field to analyze this fully, but in my limited time taking an interest in the government, I just couldn’t find anything to argue about here. And that’s great. I also think it speaks to the lack of viable options that someone who voted for Bush/Cheney in 2004 and Palin/McCain in 2008is now throwing his hat in the Obama ring.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Yesterday, while waiting for the above-mentioned tour to begin, I mentioned to this lady from my job (for some reason – I think I was trying to make a joke – I know, why else?) that I am left-handed. The co-worker standing to my left (how appropriate) said the he, likewise, was a lefty. Meanwhile, the co-worker I had originally been joking with, said she was glad to have a couple of lefties to talk to. As she said this, another guy got into our conversation and said that he, also, is left-handed. This made the lady positively beam with delight that she had the attention of three left-handed people.
She explained that she is not left-handed. We offered our condolences.
She next said that her young daughter is left-handed and that she’s worried that her child writes from right to left. “Is that a problem?” she asked.
Of course, being a group of smart-asses, we noted that it’s not a problem assuming her daughter is Chinese or Jewish. But then we gave some light-hearted examples of doing things “backwards” so that they work for us. One of the guys suggested the girl is simply trying to mirror her right-handed mom.
I asked how old her daughter was. Hearing the reply, I asked if she started Kindergarten yet. “No,” my north-pawed co-worker said, “not yet.” I then, with no qualifications whatsoever, bestowed upon her daughter a clean bill of mental and motor-skills health.
But later, I felt bad we hadn’t offered her more help, or at least been more serious. So this morning, I sent her an email saying, in part:
Don’t worry about your daughter writing right-to-left: CLICK HERE!
This, at least, gave a serious response from someone who’s thought about the matter for more than 30 seconds while waiting in the lobby of a printing firm in Scott County.
My co-worker responded with gratitude and we exchanged some more emails on the topic.
Anyway, it appears her daughter will, in fact, be just fine. Meanwhile, maybe I should bone up on my sinister qualities. I am asked about them frequently.