This May has many Days. First there was Labour Day, then, in quick succession, there’s Vesak Day and Mother’s Day in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow’s Polling Day. And lest you think today’s just any ordinary Friday, think again. Today is Cooling Off Day.Not quite the local equivalent of Songkran (nowhere close, actually), nor a euphemism for quality self-love time. It’s a day (the first time ever in the history of local general elections) set aside for a break from all the electioneering, hustings and hectoring 24 hours before Polling Day. Supposedly, sans the shrilly white noise of political platitudes, group-thought, slews of empty promises, fear mongering and maniacal ranting, the electorate would be chillaxed enough to make the RIGHT choice come Election Day. Might as well have just named it Anger Management Day or Take a Chill Pill, Dudes Day, if you ask us.Anyhoo, after the election campaign that was, we too (unless it’s a law that only political entities can cool off) ought to have a bit of a cool down. First, take the day off work. That’s right; tell your boss you can ill afford to deal with hectic office stuff just hours away from your date with the ballot paper. All that work-induced stress might just creep up on you in the quiet confines of the voting booth, where you might have a fit and spoil your ballot paper—by stuffing it in your mouth. Dudes, you do not want to eat your vote this crucial Polling Day. That will not be cool. At. All.Next, give up something. If the parties can put their swords down just as the battle reaches fever pitch, so can we. It must be hard to quit doing something you love, even for a day. So how about we do likewise and give up something, too. By doing so, we can engender empathy and foster a more civic-minded gracious society. So for one day let’s all give up being a Facebook election troll. It’s a rad idea, we know. But give it a try.And finally why should Cooling Off Day be confined to the Friday before Polling Day? Let’s have a culmination of sorts immediately after the final results are announced by having a Gatorade Dunk on the winning captain. What a spectacle that would be. We’re sure even the winners will be sporting enough to enjoy this time honored sports ritual. Unless they loathe having their whites spoiled. Happy Cooling Off Day!
