The Big Top Is Coming To Your Town!

According to Emily Post's book of etiquette, polite society never discusses politics or religion.  Though I may be reaching for a long gone era, what have we been left with instead?  We live in the most PC society ever created yet we also have an "anything goes" policy at the same time.  Now, I'm not saying people can't talk about whatever they want, in fact, I encourage candid, thoughtful and respectful discussions at all times.  However, as the "election" nears, I am faced with more and more stupidity, slogans and dialectic nonsense.  If only people could be so passionate about something that actually matters, that isn't just a circus.   My question though, is:  how do you deal with people stuck in the joke of the presidential election?  Today at work a customer at the bar asked me "So, are you going to vote?"  What kind of a question is that in the first place?  Even if I was still a member of the walking dead, shouldn't I be slightly off-put by such an invasion of privacy?  Or is this an acceptable question these days?  He couldn't very well ask me which candidate I was going to "vote" for, so he snuck it in sideways instead.  

Can anyone think of a better response than, "Excuse me, I have to fill the snack mix" ?  I thought of a couple more, such as "Oh, I'm not a U.S. citizen, actually."  And "Are you kidding?!"  Or the ever popular repeating of a question to make the person feel like a jackass for asking it in the first place, "Am I going to vote?  Am I going to vote...hmmm....am...I...going...to...vote?  Is that what you asked me?"   Well,  since I'm trying not to fall into the "us" and "them" trap, which is exactly what the elite want (divide and conquer, etc.) I will try to think of some kinder responses, aside from just outright lying, "Of course I'm going to vote!"  

I think the non-citizen one is pretty good though.  Hell, I'm from Canada.  

Goodnight, eh!