'Sacrifice' wrong choice of words

I read the letter in the Nov. 23 edition of the Yuma Sun by Clinton Goplin about the voting problems in the Foothills. I wholeheartedly agree with every word of his letter except for the last one when he wrote, “Voting is supposed to be a privilege, not a sacrifice.”

When I read that last word, my blood got a little warm. You see, he is right. Voting is a privilege. It is also our right and our duty. But he damages his momentum with me when he complains of it being a sacrifice.

I instantly thought of our troops, who would fight to the death to protect our right to vote, sitting thousands of miles away without their families and their loved ones. Many of them have their turkey dinner cafeteria style in a mess tent.

I think maybe he should have left the word sacrifice out of his letter.

That brings me to my next point of contention with voters these days. Some expect their employer to pay them for the time it takes them to go vote. Some don't go because they don't think their vote counts. Some just don't want to be bothered.

This via implication tells our troops that what they do is meaningless and they are wasting their time. Is that the message we want to send them?

I feel a little sacrifice on our parts as voters is acceptable. So you miss the new catch-phrase uttered by an overpaid TV actor. So you miss that amazing play the athlete made. Who cares? If you vote, you have a voice. You help change what needs to be changed. You can always watch the DVR when you get back from performing your duty as a citizen.

Matt Aguay

Yuma