But watching the way people put themselves forward and the ensuing inevitable response from concerned citizens fascinates me.
Open up the latest news from Whanganui
Get daily headlines from the Whanganui region straight to your inbox.Equally fascinating for me are the things that people find important. From the candidates and their election stances to local vocals and their gripes and groans.
You can take a lot from what people stand for and what people want to hold others to account for.
Maybe it's just me, but it's quite scintillating viewing. Though, that could be my vivid imagination creating plots and twists in my head for my own entertainment.
One narrative that I have really taken a liking to this election is the notion of 'mokopuna decisions'.
What is a mokopuna decision I hear you ask? This is the act of making decisions, not for the here and now. Not for the present. Not for things that will make our own lives comfortable.
Mokopuna or grandchild decisions are those that we make knowing we will never see the fruits or the benefits of that decision.
Most aptly rounded off by the old Greek proverb; ''A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit''.
It is the selfless (depending on who you ask), forward-thinking, legacy mindset that I feel we need.
Especially in this current system of three year turn-around that often sees councillors who are just finding their feet possibly yield a seat on the premise that they've done nothing for the past three years.
Instant results or hit the road Haki.
Yes, you are right. I am somewhat of an idealist. But much like the realists, there is a place for everyone.
I feel that our thirst for progress is sometimes short sighted. We can be so micro in our thinking that we put today and now so high on the pedestal but we forget about tomorrow and future.
No doubt there are things that need fixing right away, but let's at least try to be cognisant of the fact patch-jobs are temporary fixes and if we are to find long term solutions, they may require more time, more effort and more thinking than today's hard and fast, action Jackson pace society allows.
Any who! I am sure to have my detractors and that's great!
I feed on it! Jokes, jokes. I don't care.
But getting back to mokopuna decisions, I love it. My tupuna made those kinds of decisions.
I am encouraged to make those decisions myself. I encourage others to make those decisions.
It really does remind me of a poem … and this is coming from someone who has the poetic intellect of someone who thought "Ink, pink you stink" was awesome.
But this poem I am referencing, in my humble yet handsome opinion, is one of the greats.
It was composed by Nellie Winslow Simmons Randall, which is a name even longer than some of my cousins'.
But I first heard it from a friend who used it to make a similar point I am trying to make. He exchanged the word 'ancestor' for 'Tupuna'.
If you could meet your tupuna
All standing in a row
Would you be proud of them or not?
Or don't you really know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees
And some of them you know
Do not particularly please.
If you could see your tupuna
All standing in a row
There might be some of them perhaps
You shouldn't care to know
