My first problem as a Gen W-er came today when I tried to vote. I guess I don’t have the app that provides the pre-voting instructions, and so I didn’t realize I had to read some instructions and sign a form. It probably would have taken me about a minute read, except that the lady kept talking to me telling me what it said in a sound bite and repeating, “Just sign.” Everybody else was just signing.

It reminds me of those things in doctors’ offices. The old people aren’t given the papers to review. They probably have an app that provides comparative legal opinions. The receptionists just ask the old folks to sign that electronic box, and say, “It’s just saying. . . .”

I was brought up to believe signatures should mean something – else why do we bother with them? Back in the day, it meant one had read a contract and agreed to the terms.

So, today I wanted to do a little smart-alec post. It seems the greatest issue in this city council campaign is whether or not to convert prime real estate downtown into a park. Doing so would bust up the center of commerce, forcing business people to sprawl out to the burbs, hauling larger carbon footprints with them, while opening a vista for a sanctuary where Christians go to feel close to their Heavenly Father – something people who argue for green downtowns typically don’t value.

Political snipe signs about town show a photoshopped version of the Basilica St. Lawrence with a verdant approach like unto a cemetery. I wanted to photoshop a view with a backdrop from the Sonoran Desert, and poorly proportioned at that to try to get a laugh out of you, just to share my vision. But the office where I now sit has no need of Adobe software, which I absolutely love. So, I set about to download some freeware.

Unfortunately, I ran into a couple hundred pages of fine print with cleverly-disguised buttons trying to get me purchase NFL whatnot subscriptions and commitments to start paying after a month’s trial. I don’t know how kids these days read a thousand pages of legalese every time they try to breathe. And so, in the interest of not depleting my bank account, I leave you with only the thought.