The Mantra of the Cubs fan: "There's Always Next Year!"
To be a Cubs fan is to be eternally disappointed. With no trip to the World Series since 1908, an entire generation of folks like my neighbor George have been born into the world, lived out a 90+ year life span and died, never having seen the Cubs win it all.
They've come close.
Who can forget the tragic Steve Bartman incident in the 2003 playoff series against the Florida Marlins.
To state for the record - while my husband and I spent 4 years living in the Windy City, we are not truly Cubs fans. We've been more like Cubs observers. So, on that fateful day in 2003, we were hardly surprised at the turn of events. My husband always likes to say that if there is a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory, the Cubs will find it.
But the story of the Cubs isn't really about whether they win or lose. It's about that eternal optimism every Cubs fan fires up in about April. The idea that, somehow, this year is going to be different. This will be the year. This is the pitcher that will take them all the way. This is the manager that will make all the difference.
And, often, the Cubs seem on the verge of delivering. It is not at all unusual for them to start the season quite strongly - tantalizing their fans with that possible October run for glory.
Generally, about August, it all starts to go to hell.
And that, my friends, is the story of politics in my lifetime. Every election we think we have a chance to win it all. And by winning it all, I mean we think that the next batch of elected officials will fix everything that's wrong with the economy, national defense, health care, you name it.
We pin our hopes on the election outcome to fix everything that is messed up in our lives as though the new guys are some sort of winning lottery ticket. As though that sudden infusion of cash is all we need to get our lives back on track.
Some statistics about lottery winners: approximately one third of lottery winners wind up filing for bankruptcy with a significant number losing all the money within 5 years, over 50% of lottery winners wind up committing suicide and 88% of lottery winners still play the lottery weekly. (Presumably this number is culled from the 49% of folks who didn't commit suicide.)
What can we learn from this? If you're life is colossally screwed up and you get a windfall but don't fix any of your systemic problems, you're still headed down the tubes.
But we, as voters, seldom seem to realize this basic truth. Instead, we pin our hopes on the new breed of folks heading off to Washington the same way we follow spring training. When the latest manager holds a press conference, juicing us up and preparing us for the brave new world in which we are World Series Champs, we fall for it every time.
Every single time.
And this election is not a whit different.
This batch of new guys heading up there - there are all these great hopes. We like to think we've got an allstar lineup of rookies of the year. Ready to knock a few out of the park and make us all feel better.
Except that's generally all it is - they make us feel better. For a couple of months. Maybe even a year.
Like winning the lottery.
Or the World Series.
So, to those of you happy with last night's election results, dancing in the streets at the thought of the new world order, enjoy it while you can. Before the same old, same old sets back in.
And to the rest of you I can only say, "There's always next year!"
Comments