Self-Indulgence and Phone Fun

I took a political polling call a few days ago. It was my first ever, in fact, no doubt because mine is just about the reddest of red states. The call I received did NOT end with a disclosure of its organizational origin, so perhaps it was illegal. Alternatively, perhaps I was in Indiana, where the main generally-recognized crime is "being poor."

The young gentleman who interrogated me was left, I'm afraid, unsatisfied. Not only did I affirm absolutely that I would not vote for either Major Brand; not only did I insist that I was not "leaning," even slightly, toward either of same; I also identified my political philosophy -- quite truthfully -- as "Reactionary Utopian." (I was supposed to choose between "more toward conservative" and "more toward liberal.") My interrogator made the mistake of straying from the official script by asking me what that meant. When I explained that it meant I was consumed by nostalgia for something that never actually existed, some seconds of silence ensued before he moved on to the age- and income-demographic questions.

I can't really blame him for not identifying himself organizationally, though, because I lied to him, too. He asked for my name, and I responded by asking him how he had called me without knowing my name. He hesitated (I assume he was in doubt about whether he was allowed to reveal the use of a sequential dialer), and then when I suggested that a sequential dialer was in use, he confirmed that it was. So I decided to be "Benjamin Dover." Distressingly, it turned out that I had to spell it for him -- twice.

Truly, these must be the last days.

By the way, it occurs to me that a post that doesn't contain a single link is probably automatically an exercise in self-indulgence. Well, so be it; today is my birthday, a local holiday celebrating the completion of my 54th lap around the sun. A 55th now commences -- but who knows whether I'll live to complete it? I can't convince myself that it matters all that much; as St. Paul said, "to live is Christ, to die is gain," and so forth. The main thing, I think, is to try to get a little something done, and to enjoy it as it unfolds. So I'll get right on that.