Now that it's over

Over the past few months, I have been the unlucky recipient of the annoying politically charged emails that have been circulating around the web. These emails always came from two people that I know, one coworker, one friend. I seriously wonder how many people took these emails seriously but here is what I learned:

Email 1: Barack Obama is a muslim terrorist in disguise. His past times include the following: killing babies, spreading socialism, hanging out with terrorists, practicing Islam, hating America, burning our flag, fulfilling the prophecies of the Book of Revelations by being the AntiChrist, meeting secretly with foreign leaders that hate America, as well as many other unwholesome and anti-American activities.

Email 2: Our right to bear arms is granted by the Constitution but some political persons (see email paragraph 1) want to take that away from us. It won't be long until we are all required to place our guns into a smelter at the center of every town, built with funds from a recent bailout of the smelting industry. We should have no gun laws whatsoever, according to these emails, and if anyone ever tries to take them away from me, I should fight back. Everyone should be able to own a gun. No one is exempt. And if that gun happens to double as a grenade launcher, you're more patriotic than your neighbor.

The most frustrating part of these emails would be that these individuals would then approach me and say, "Did you get the email I sent you?" If I say no, they send it and ask again. If I say yes, they respond with, "Can you believe that?" To which my response was often, "do you believe everything you get in an email?" Sadly, I think they do.

Another thing I won't miss is the uncomfortable nature of living in a republican state when my viewpoints don't agree with the majority of those I associate with. I almost daily am approached by those that assume, that do to the religious organization I belong to, I would adamantly fight against, democrats, liberal viewpoints, and Proposition 8 in California. By the way, my family and I were asked, by our Church, to phone several hundred people in California to encourage them to vote for the proposition. We declined the invitation.

Finally, not related to the time of the year, please don't talk on your cell phone while using the bathroom. I am tired of walking in on you and hearing your conversation from the stall.