Somehow Samual Becket’s Play “Waiting for Godot” keeps percolating up as I watch the inevitability of this political season unfold. Whatever one thinks of our current President, the nation such as it is, and its Supreme Court, have conceded the keys of power to him. One side of the voter’s debate accuses the other of being ‘woke’, while the other side argues their opponents are asleep. We add debt in our waking moments and subtract debt in our dreams. In the play, Vladimir and Estragon argue and ponder under the leafless tree waiting for a Godot who apparently could resolve things but will never appear. The lights of the final act go down on this unresolved conversation as the actors collapse into a frustrated silence. This writer never dreamed the most inventive and powerful nation in the world would take itself out of contention in the same manner as these hapless characters. 

My exercise machine at the community health club is positioned exactly between two television monitors; one showing Fox News and the other, of course, CNN. I could name those two monitors Vladimir and Estragon. Being breathless and bored I watch them both. If either one of these two sources is your singular source of information you cannot hope to ever meet a Godot who will resolve the situation. You are doomed to the hellish existence of irresolution, pointless argument or simply air tight ignorance. 

There is really only one way out of this for America. Turn off the television, computer or radio, find a coffee house, or a bar that doesn’t allow firearms, sit down with an unlikely stranger and swap stories. Personal stories bent on honesty connect people at the deeper levels of relationship. The nation’s storyteller, Ken Burns, is quoted this week by Maureen Dowd and he says it all in this quote from Dowd’s article: “The best arguments in the world won’t change a single person’s point of view. The only thing that can do that is a good story. Good stories are a kind of benevolent Trojan horse. You let them in, and they add complication, allowing you to understand that sometimes a thing and its opposite are true at the same time.”

A modest Proposal for Good.

The life stories we honestly have lived and evolved contain a powerful language and force that could turn our national stalemate around. Our political narrative as a nation and culture has gone toxic and stale. Look to meet with the unlikely stranger and as openly and honestly as possible, listen to, and share the stories. Set up dinners, dates, connections of all sorts and share what really matters while avoiding politics. Above all, stop waiting for Godot. He is not coming.