With election day for the U.S. on the horizon, I’m sure that, for a lot of you, this is a time to bust out the “make America great again” hats or the signs with the cute little Hs that have arrows in the middle of them with passion as you hope and pray for your favorite candidate to win it all. However, I know that there’s also a group of you that are stocking up on non-perishable foods and digging out doomsday shelters as you slowly mark the days off the calendar until you get to one labeled “the day America dies.” I fit into the ladder of those two categories.

Even though I can’t vote, making my opinion kind of worthless, I know that even if I could vote, I would not be doing so for this coming election. Why? Why would I is the real question. In one corner, we have an angry, egotistical loose-cannon of a man that’s openly racist and sexist, and in the other, we have what is about as close as you can get to a full-on governmental puppet. If you ask me, I wouldn’t want to see a person with either of those sets of qualities at the head of my county with access to the big red button that could start World War 3 in an instant.

But, alas, this is what America has been left to choose between. Don’t give me any smack about how there’s third-party candidates, because we all know that under this current political system, they have about a combined 0.00000003 percent chance of winning anything on the 8th. Yet somehow, even in the face of an election as nonsensical as this one, there are still people that would shame me for not going out and voting for someone if I was 18. This select group of people even have a little jingle that they use as a rationale for this distaste toward non-voters: “if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

Hold on, is that a serious claim? Have you SEEN the slim-pickings that we, as a nation, have been presented here? It astonishes me that there are people in America that could say something like that with a straight face. Let me get this straight: if someone realizes the flaws in both main candidates and decides “hey, I don’t like the idea of saying that I helped put either of these people in office,” there are people who would scorn that person for his/her thought process? It baffles me more than anyone could imagine.

I get that these people think voting is important, and rightfully so. But, think about what casting a vote for someone should mean. It should mean that you passionately agree with the person that you’re voting for and that seeing that person in office would make your next four years special. A vote in an election is a vote of confidence that your candidate is best for the job. To me, it seems that a lot of people who will be going out to the polls tomorrow don’t even feel that way about either candidate. To me, a lot of the people that plan on voting simply think that one of the two is less terrible than the other. Is this really what the election for the position of President of the United States has come to? Is it really a game of “which person will do less damage than the other” now? That’s kind of sad, really, and if you’re one of those voters, I’d reconsider doing what it is that you’re about to do.

With all of this in mind, I think it’s perfectly fine to stay home and spare yourself the trouble of the craziness that will ensue tomorrow. By doing so, you’re making just as much of a statement as someone who plans on voting is. You’re saying that you don’t think any of the candidates in question are worthy enough of your vote, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. You have all the right in the world to complain openly not only about how poor the choices are but also about how bad of a job one of them does at being President if that turns out to be the case. Why? You can know with full confidence that you weren’t involved in the makings of that presidency. Non-voters know all-too-well that there’s a very strong chance that this coming election can dramatically change the future of this nation for the worst. I think there’s something to complain about there, but that’s just me.