Post-debate

 

Thank God for Google. With it, and with a mother who doesn't know Google from noodle, I can find quick answers even to generalized questions. Such as:

"What's the name of that young guy, who played in that movie? You know, the one who died?"

A guy in movies. Who died. Ok, I'll bite: 30s? 40s? '00s? Blond? Mustache? Straight? Gay?   

Never mind, it'll come to me.

But the day after the presidential debate was different. My mother knew exactly who and what she was talking about, because she had references from the matchup in words and phrases written all over five Post-it notes.

Chris Wallace. Proud Boys. Antifa. Rigged system. Bernie Sanders. Rules don't apply to him.


Associated Press

On all these topics, she peppered me with questions, faster than I could tap out Google.

Care act. Affordable. Mail-in ballots. Socialist.

When it comes to my mother and politics, this is a year that's gained her attention: COVID. Trump. Climate chain.  

I didn't say the dialogue was flawless.

My mother likes to say she hasn't voted since Kennedy. And she doesn't mean Ted. But as an 85-year-old who is prediabetic, and therefore at a higher risk from the virus, she's got her dander up. And her registration up to date.

All that's left is to get her to the polls, but if you believe the president's statement from the debate about what a mess her city Philadelphia is, well, her vote could end up in a creek somewhere. And should she ever need insulin, she could drink it, because it'll be like water.

But let's go easy on the president. He's sick. And the country is on pins and needles. We're at a fraught moment in history, and there's nothing funny about it. 

As my mother said, we're in a period of distension. You know: discord, disagreement, divisiveness. 

Nothing funny about that either.  

 



     

   



 



   




      


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