Work to be Done

Kate and I are in the process of trying to decorate and set-up our new apartment. Neither of us has much of an aptitude for such things, in so far as neither one of us gives matters like this much thought. Which is not to say that we do not have very firm opinions about aspects of our home, of what can and cannot go next to the fireplace or how the appliances in the kitchen should be placed.

The two of us approach the decoration and layout of our home in a manner that I believe many do. Kate is a doer, she sees an empty wall and she finds a picture to hang there. She is happy once this is done. I see the empty wall and think about what should go there, how it should be hung and ultimately find reasons why I cannot hang a picture there. After all of this I am not really happy. The simple solution for such things would be for me to either adopt her attitude or to do what I am doing at this moment which is get out of the way. As I write this I hear the occasional beep of the stud detector followed by the gentle poundings of hammer and nail.

The hitch with all of this is that when I walk downstairs and see which pictures were hung in the living room and so on I will have opinions. Some of which I know will not be ones of approval. Yet, I did nothing in the planning of the hanging or the actual event. Instead I went upstairs and sat down to write.

I go on about all of this because I feel that these two basic attitudes toward the home are prevalent everywhere and because I see no real solution. The Kate's of this world see something that needs to be done and they do it. Afterwards, I think, they are usually pleased or content with what they have done. The build roads and bridges and make sure the building has air conditioning and such. Then the John's enter and remark, "This design was not really thought out." After the fact all that could be improved or redesigned is apparent to the people of my persuasion and we feel compelled, for the good of everyone to be sure, to share these thoughts.

All of this is my mind's way of circling around the upcoming presidential elections and my detachment from them. I have tried in vain to make myself follow the progress of the candidates (except it seems the only candidates to follow are Clinton and Obama) but my attention lags. I grow irritable when I read headlines about how this one pulled ahead by winning the vote but how the other is really the victor because of... I don't know why because I stop reading then.

I am proud of you, dear reader, if you are able to continue on with those stories and follow them to the end. I am impressed if afterwards these stories and debates help you understand the candidates and their position's more clearly. I envy your dedication and your commitment to being involved in this process. For myself all I see is a blank wall, work to be done but no means of approaching it as of yet.

So instead I sit and I write. I make comments about the two candidates and how neither strikes me as a good choice, or sincere or really saying much about the issues. In short, I make it known that I think there must be a better way. I criticize and I lament and meanwhile you and the rest of the Kate-like people continue to do your part and make sure that something gets done.