Think Good Thoughts

Random image: Mountain Laurel on Park Avenue.

The days before an election in Plainfield tend to produce some of the unkindest behavior from candidates or their supporters. Wild allegations fly and mud is flung. A past example is the trick in which someone opened a Courier News box in front of City Hall and inserted scurrilous fliers in each newspaper. It was clever in a fiendish way: People may have thought it was part of the newspaper; by doing it in that location, the buzz was magnified by employee gossip; and the claims were so outrageous that they just might have engendered sympathy rather than contempt for the victim. All that for a quarter.

The anticipation of such pranks is enough to make a person paranoid. Is the lack of information on city Memorial Day ceremonies meant to ensure a photo op just for candidates in the know, making others appear insensitive? What else may happen on the final weekend, when the big bombshells are tossed?

The antidote for pre-election malaise may be to ignore all the last-minute volleys. Ballots have been received and there has probably been enough factual material out there so far for voters to have chosen the candidates they favor. So stick to pleasant and positive activities meanwhile and just remember to vote on June 8. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Your polling place is indicated on your sample ballot.

--Bernice