From My Point of View

By Sean McVeigh

I like to think I’m a pretty observant guy. I see dead people things. Sometimes I even find myself writing about those things right here in these pages. As you know from a good deal of those columns, for some reason, I cannot help but find myself judging those around me. I just can’t help as an involuntary rage rises up from inside me as someone does this or someone does that. Occasionally, it’s justified. People can be real dopes and I will continue to write about those people every chance I get. But other times, in retrospect, maybe I’m a little hard on some people. The problem is, from my point of view, if you aren’t doing things exactly the way I would have done it then, well, what the heck is the matter with you!?

As is required of all new dog owners, it is my pleasure to brag that we now have a puppy. His name is Boomer. He’s the best and, at the exact same time, he is such a jerk. Now hold your horses, crazy pet people! Hear me out! By “jerk” I mean he is just being a puppy. You should’ve seen the look on your faces, crazy dog people!

I don’t know if you know this, but puppies don’t know much about anything. They are babies. Oddly enough, Boomer does not listen to my every command the first time he hears it. This dog, who has been on the earth for only a few months and only been in our home for a few weeks, still does not understand that he is allowed to bite his blanket, but he better not touch our blanket! I’ve told him a couple of times and yet every now and again, he will still do it. Why won’t he listen to me? From my point of view, I have been very clear with him: this soft white blanket, no! And this soft blue blanket, yes! Is that so difficult to understand?! Yes … he’s a dog!

Now, I am inclined to cut Boomer a little more slack than I would normally cut my fellow bipedal brother. But maybe I should be cutting that slack across the board. Maybe my way isn’t always right. Maybe, just maybe, that guy who I stare at dumbfoundedly with a fiery hatred is actually just staring right back at me with mutual disdain. Who really is to say whose way is the right way with most things? Aren’t most things subjective enough where there can be a gray area? What if I am the one in the wrong a lot of the time? What if we just all did our own thing and didn’t expect so much from the person next to us? They are just doing their own thing, after all.

All of this leads me here. This Tuesday, November 7, is Election Day. I have my opinions on things, and I am sure most of you have yours. Don’t worry, I will not be spending these last few lines pitching a candidate. I just want to encourage everyone to go out and vote. In this election and in every election, big or small. We all have our views and — especially in this day and age of hyper-partisan politics across the board — nothing you read here is likely to change them. From my point of view, the people I vote for down the ballot are the right choice and from your point of view, your choices are.

I think the moral of the story is: maybe we can try and see things from another point of view every once in a while.