Register to vote. Now.

Are you beginning to feel anxious yet? Starting to wonder whether your child will have the education and skills to get into a good college in four, six, 12 years? Starting to wonder whether that teenager you see hanging out at all hours will have job prospects to keep food on the table in a few years? Or is he going to have to find easier, more lucrative ways to get cash? Could it get so bad that you yourself might have to wonder what you’d be willing to do to feed your family?

These are the questions that each of us must ask ourselves.

One more question: How are those 529s, childrens’ college savings funds, and IRAs doing?

Look around. It seems you rarely see any of those minimum-wage help-wanted signs on the glass doors of businesses these days. That help-wanted section seems a little slim, too.

You do see a lot of stories about a few far-right conservatives holding the Nevada Legislature hostage. There are a variety of agendas at work, but it’s pretty easy to see that they’re not the agendas of families. They are the agendas of individuals, corporations and businesses that have sucked on society’s teat for decades, and would rather irreparably damage children in this state than pay their fair share.

And here’s the part that really stings: It’s all our own fault. “Our” meaning we who could not see fit to contribute a few bucks to the candidates we supported in the last election. “Our” meaning we who couldn’t find a moment to register to vote. “Our” meaning we who couldn’t be bothered to go the distance and stop and cast our ballot on Election Day.

Yes, the Legislature has a couple more weeks, and the less cynical among us are taking a wait-and-see attitude to see if a special session will be called to allow legislators to concentrate on the state’s fiscal train-wreck. The most optimistic are even hoping the job can be done before the session’s June 2 deadline.

But the most pragmatic among us are hoping for the best and planning for the worst, which means the state’s fiscal Band-Aids are going to have to be removed and radical surgery will have to be performed in the 2005 session. The deciding battles will be fought in the 2004 election, and people who want their children to have more secure futures are going to be the soldiers. Put aside your misgivings about the value of your one vote. We understand the arguments and sympathize to some extent, but let’s be real—as things stand in the world, voting is the only option to force change. Get informed, vote with the person who comes closest to your heart.

The first step is to get registered to vote. There’s no expiration date, so register at your convenience.

· Mail-in voter registrations can be picked up at United States Post Offices, Washoe County Library branches, University of Nevada, Reno’s ASUN office or Getchell Library, Truckee Meadows Community College Library, front desk and Associated Students’ Office, Nevada Bell’s Vassar Street office, Sierra Pacific Power Company’s office on Neil Road or the Registrar of Voters Office on East Ninth Street.

· Registrations may be done in person at Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles offices, area Justice Courts or the Marriage License office.