My microwave dinner isn’t heating up quickly enough.

My mobile isn’t connecting to the internet quickly enough.

The order I placed on-line for the product I’m buying at a 30% discount takes a week to ship.  Ugh.

I want national change to happen...NOW.

I wanted my guy to win, and since he didn’t all you idiots will suffer as I fight tooth and nail to defeat anything YOUR guy wants to do.  Because.

I want my MTV.

I’ve now experienced the Facebook-based backlash of those whose candidate did not win on Tuesday night, with people predicting the downfall of the country, people “threatening” not to have children, and “friends” calling “friends” idiots for their voting choices.  Look, I get that you have certain beliefs, values, and desires, and I understand that those might not all agree with what others might think or live by, but last time I looked, other than a hurricane beating the shit out of my region, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of abject suffering or misery.

Yes, we have a significant debt.  Yes, our re-elected president didn’t deliver on some items he promised, including the “sweeping change” to the way our government works.  But it takes two to tango.  No president will EVER fulfill every promised obligation in a society in which the parties are totally polarized and their constituents prefer simply to find ways to impede and destroy the party opposite them rather than to find ways to compromise and deliver actions that may not be 100% what either party wants, but moves the ball forward rather than being stuck in an infinite scrum.

However, it appears that most of us don’t want to do this.  We want what we want NOW, and we would rather stomp our feet and kick and scream and blame others rather than suck it up, acknowledge that you can’t win ‘em all, and pitch in to help arrive at solutions that everyone may not love but can certainly live with – and move us in the right direction.

Does Obama have all the answers right?  No.  Did Romney have all the answers right?  No.  But losing an election should not result in the losing party’s de-evolution to a threatening, doomsday proclaiming group bent on the destruction of everything the other party holds dear.  Don’t call your friends idiots because they had the “courage” to vote for what they believe in – when one party wins, it gets the chance to lead.  You had your chance and you – or rather your party leadership and anointed candidate – didn’t get it done.  Now, wait for four years and try again.  In the mean time, figure out where you can make a difference.  Turn some of that negative energy into plugging gaps in the winning party’s strategy by observing and identifying specific real areas of impact, writing about them, creating a groundswell in your communities (physical or virtual), and work on putting in place a candidate that can actually get the job done by winning over those that were alienated this time around.  Some very sane articles have been written and statements made about the shortcomings of the Romney campaign and candidate, all of which could easily be addressed before the next election by a candidate that is not only the best representative of his or her party, but also understands compromise and how to garner the respect and confidence of those NOT in his or her party.

I’m not gloating over an Obama win any more than I’d despair over an Obama loss.  Either way, we have some serious issues to address quickly in this country, and my fear with either candidate given the environment in which they are working is that the extreme polarization of parties will result in disaster rather than improvement.  In other words, BOTH parties need to come to the table and compromise to drive any progress, and BOTH parties are at fault when it doesn’t happen.  What makes this country great, in part, is its tolerance of ALL beliefs, NOT the total success of one system and the destruction of all others.  But until we as a nation can act this way, I don’t expect our elected officials to do so either, unfortunately.  I fear that we will still be encumbered by those demanding immediate gratification, even to the detriment of others.

I saw a funny comment on Facebook the other day.  It said, "Electing Obama is like backing up the Titanic and hitting the iceberg again.  Electing Romney is like hitting another iceberg."  Whether you agree or not, I don't want my presidential candidates to be so questionable that observers can only find negatives on either side.  I want candidates - and parties - that can provide sound reasoning behind the hard changes we all will need to make to turn this giant ship on the right course.   I want campaigns that explain the math, that explain the tactics and strategies, and that treat me as if I am actually a thinking adult that not only has some patience, but also the willingness to roll up my sleeves and get to work.