The Little Red Voter

Once there was a little red voter – and a blue, a pink and a green. They all had jobs and earned their livings. They shared a nice little place just outside of town near the interstate. The little red voter was particularly successful. She paid more toward expenses each month than her housemates - voluntarily and without complaint because she could. Each of the four had a list of chores to do to help keep the place clean and tidy. They were all very happy.

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The little red voter was in charge of the kitchen, buying groceries and cooking. They were to do the dishes together. The blue was to vacuum, polish glass and dust furniture. The pink was responsible for laundry, linens and cleaning the bathroom. The green was assigned to keep up the yard, flowerbeds and patio. The little red voter worked diligently, kept up on all her chores and still had time to do other things. But the others spent their outside of work time focused on pet projects and recreation. The little red voter usually was left to do dishes alone. For a while she didn’t say anything because she felt it was something she could do for the “greater good.” One day the little red voter looked around the nice little place and sighed heavily. There was a thick layer of dust on tables and shelves, lint on the carpet and spots on the windows. There were clothes piled high in the laundry room, the sheets hadn’t been changed in a month and the bathroom smelled of mildew. The grass was uncut; there were big weeds in the flowerbeds and sand on the patio.

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The little red voter thought her housemates may be overwhelmed and if she helped them get started they might be motivated to catch up on their work and they could all be happy again. So, the little red voter did a few loads of laundry, ran the vacuum over the carpets and swept the patio. But the others kept going about their days and nights as if nothing had been done or yet needed to be done. The little red voter realized that the blue, the pink and the green took for granted that she would take care of them. The little red voter continued to do her chores but she also began to do some of what they left undone that affected her. She did her own laundry, changed her sheets, vacuumed her bedroom and swept an area of the patio where often she sat in a chair to read a book. The rest she left for the others to do for themselves. But they didn’t. They were more concerned about everything BUT keeping up their nice little place. One day the little red voter couldn’t take it anymore. She shouted to the blue, the pink and the green, “We need all to pitch in and clean up around here!” The blue, the pink and the green looked at the little red voter in surprise and confusion. They looked at one another and then shrugged. The blue said, “I can’t help. I have a political rally to attend. Don’t you know how important it is to fight for higher wages and better benefits?” The pink said, “I can’t help. I have to talk to my women’s group. Don’t you know how important it is to preserve women’s rights?” The green said, “I can’t help. I am going to protest the county cutting down the big tree along the river. Don’t you know how important it is to protect the environment?” A few minutes later the little red voter was standing all by herself looking around at the dirty, messy little place and wondered what she should do. She knew she mustn’t do all the work for the others or they wouldn’t think they had to do it for themselves. She decided on a plan. She began to buy and cook only enough food for herself and only clean up after herself. It was okay for a bit because the blue, the pink and the green were so busy – going to meetings, events and out for meals – that they didn’t notice anything was different. But after about a week the dishes piled high in the sink and the refrigerator and cupboards got bare. Then they noticed. “Hey!” they shouted, “What’s going on here? You aren’t taking care of your chores, Little Red Voter! You need to be sure there’s enough food stored and cooked for all! How can you be that selfish?” The little red voter couldn’t believe her ears. She asked, “What about your chores? I did all my work plus part of your work for weeks and you said nothing. You didn’t do your own chores or make time for us all to work together to get our nice little place cleaned up. NOW, what are you going to do to help?” The blue, the pink and the green looked back and forth between themselves, sputtering and frustrated. The blue blurted out, “This has nothing to do with what WE do or don’t do! This is about YOU neglecting YOUR responsibilities!” The pink whined, “You don’t understand that we must stand up for women’s rights to choose what to do with their bodies!” The green huffed, “You don’t understand! If the grass grows long in the yard nothing will be hurt. But if we don’t make sure more people care about our environment we might destroy the earth.” The little red voter was more stunned than she’d ever been in her life. She looked at each of her housemates. To the blue she said, “You say I’m negligent because I’m not making sure you’re taken care of. You make your choices. I make mine. But you want me to pay more and do more because you think your choices are more important than mine.” To the pink she said, “You think I should help make it possible for others to make choices even when they go against my values and beliefs. So, my choices only count if you agree with them.” To the green she said, “You say that even though Mother Nature has directed the wind, rivers, snow, ice, volcanoes, thunder, lightning and earthquakes for millions of years she suddenly can’t get along without you and those who think like you. So, are you going to decide which tree gets hit by lightning and which doesn’t? And will you chastise Mother Nature that lightning struck a tree at all?” To all, the little red voter said, “You expect me to help pay in money, time and efforts for whatever causes you are passionate about even though they may go directly against my faith or principles. It seems you have no respect for the fact that we EACH have EQUAL rights to choose but NO guarantee that we’ll agree or have equal results.” The blue, the pink and the green looked back and forth at each other and then shrugged. The blue said, “I didn’t realize that you were so self-righteous, and judgmental.” The pink said, “I’m shocked to see how cold-hearted you are.” The green said, “I can’t believe how ignorant you are.” The blue looked at the pink and the green and said, “Come on, let’s go. There’s no getting along with the little red voter. She only cares about herself.” A few minutes later the little red voter was standing all by herself looking around at what used to be a clean and nice little place. She decided on a plan. The next day when the blue, the pink and the green got up they saw a note written to them on the kitchen counter:

• I will no longer be sharing this nice little place with you. I am going to spend a month with family and friends who understand that supporting a cause, a political party or a special interest isn’t nearly as important as keeping one’s word, having integrity and respecting the rights of others to live and conduct their business without the burden of others imposing their wills on all.
• I will always help those who cannot help themselves. But I will not continue to make a fool of myself by doing for others what they can and should do for themselves. You insult me by thinking I will forego my own value and beliefs so you can live by yours.
• And by the way, since I own this nice little place, I expect all of you to be moved out by the time I return. I will keep your security deposits to pay for the cleaning and repairs that undoubtedly will need to be done.

The Little Red Voter

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