More reasons to vote

Thanks for printing Ms. Coralie Koonce’s letter on the importance of voting. If I may, I’d like to add a few random thoughts to her thread.

Your vote gets you out of the house on a boring Tuesday.

Your vote lets you meet new, civic-minded people.

Your vote makes you feel like you’re doing something important when you actually are doing something important.

Your vote earns you that nifty little sticker that says you voted.

Your vote lets you use your wait time to use one of your “techno-thingies” to download a book to educate and amuse yourself. (Suggestions: William Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here, or Madeleine Albright’s Fascism: A Warning. If you can stream movies on your cellphone, try the original [Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury] version of The Manchurian Candidate. Earn extra patriot points if you watch this entire movie to the end before you vote.)

Your vote is your voice. How great is that? Your vote automatically earns you the right to complain about your government. (No vote; no voice.)

Finally, your vote gives even more meaning and value to the sacrifices made in your name for over 200 years.

We would all be wise to remember the story of the hapless frog in the pot of cold water. He is unaware that the water is slowly getting hotter and hotter, then realizes — too late — that the water is boiling, his freedom is gone and his fate has been sealed. Thank you, Ms. Koonce. LINDA FARRELL

Bella Vista