They are paving the street in front of our house, a complete restructure, not simply a patch. Yesterday a construction worker hit a water pipe, resulting in a major mess that lasted most of the day. The water people couldn’t find a valve to shut off the main because none nearby had been opened in at least 40 years. They finally went several blocks away before they could turn off the main and fix the broken pipe which merrily spewed water all day, flooding the street.

For a while there was a blame game about who caused the problem. Had the line been marked in the wrong place? Was the worker careless? But after a time, it didn’t matter at all. There was a mess and all hands were on deck to fix it. The construction crew and the water department worked all day until the line was repaired and work could resume. Police diverted the traffic all day. All the men(and they were all men) worked and joked and took care of things.

It reminds me of the current debate about the Middle East. Whose fault was it? Who should have done what? We need to stop blaming each other and figure out how to work together to repair the damage we caused.

I was the oldest of four children, the television didn’t enter out home until I was nine, and even then there was only one channel. We played a lot of games. Clue, Monopoly, checkers, Chinese checkers, Uncle Wiggily, and Chutes and Ladders. We also played many card games including rummy, gin rummy, Michigan rummy(a family variation), casino, War, five card draw and canasta. I often won these games because I was older and had learned more strategies.

My younger siblings sometimes resented my winning and complained that it was unfair or that I was cheating. Every once in a while, a sibling would say “I want to choose the next game.” I would agree, and they would declare “52 card pick up,” throwing the deck of cards into the air and laughing as the oblongs flew around the room.

There is a big difference between a “game changer” and a “disrupter.” Today as one of our candidates for President is being described as a “game changer,” I remember my childhood card games. Throwing all 52 cards in the air changed the game all right, by creating a big mess that had to be cleaned up. And my sibling left the clean-up to me.

In 1968, I was twenty-one, at that time the legal age to vote. It was my first chance to vote for President and I was completely in favor of Senator McCarthy who wanted to bring an end to the war raging in Viet Nam. The draft was in effect, and classmates would be serving in the Army after college graduation. I already knew girls who had lost boy friends in the war.

Hubert Humphrey got the Democratic nomination that year and ran against Richard Nixon. I believed that there was no difference between the two candidates and sat out the chance to vote.

I was wrong. I should have voted for Humphrey. Nixon was a disaster and ended up resigning.

History seems to be repeating itself as young voters see no difference between the candidates. Those who supported Bernie Sanders talk about sitting out the election. They should not. There is a clear and dangerous difference this election, and I urge people to vote. I was there and I didn’t. I hope this generation is more discerning than I was.