The Philosophy of Cereal

Gentle readers,

So, this morning, as I took my breakfast of Alpha-Bits cereal with Daughter, an interesting corollary hit me. Cereal and elections are a lot alike. Stay with me.

I started with a full bowl of cereal and added my milk. I was hungry and looking forward to my cereal. I was even smiling. I took the first bite and there was a perfect blend of crispy cereal and cold milk. Yum.

Then, half-way through the bowl, the cereal was getting soggy, the milk was now room temperature and tasted sweeter than it did at the start.

Uh oh, I'm at the end of the bowl and I've still got milk left. I'll just add a little more cereal and try to get things to work out a bit more evenly. So, with all the skills of spatial reasoning that I've got, I tip the box and add more...I even toss three errant pieces in just for measure.

Ok, now we're talking. Not quite where we started, but better than the soggy mess I previously had in my bowl. I crunch happily even though I'm not really hungry any more.

WHAT?! Still more milk than cereal is left in the bottom of my bowl. In the interest of not being at breakfast until past noon trying to puzzle out the divine milk to cereal ratio, I lift the bowl to my lips and drink down the remaining milk. It's got small chunks of cereal in it and it's WAY sweeter than it was when we started. But, it's over now and at a minimum I've taken care of the issue for now.

And so it goes with elections. At the beginning things are fresh and crisp and we're excited about the prospects. At the middle, comes the primaries...things are starting to get soggy, but we're still hungry, so we eat. After primaries, we're stuck with what's left. We can try really hard to make it perfect, but in the end we just want to get it over with for another four years.

No matter what your favorite cereal is, you've likely faced the same dilemma at breakfast time. Hasn't stopped you from eating cereal, has it? Likewise, elections are almost over. In a few short days, the ads we are being inundated with that are approved by John/Jane Candidate will cease for now. So, no matter your political beliefs or affiliations, on November 4th...VOTE!!!

Random Musing Item: Who decides which letters will go in the box of Alpha-Bits? There seems to be a serious disparity in the letters and amount of them in each box. Hmmmm....conspiracy?