Circles of Change

In the sleepy town of Lüdenberg, between Berlin's turmoil and Bavaria's charm, lived retired railwayman Herr Otto Bauer, famous for his punctuality, obstinacy—and unshakeable faith in democracy.

Every four years, in his neat grey suit and shiny shoes, Otto would trudge to the same polling booth, nod to the same polling officer, and vote. He had experimented with them all. First the Left, with the hope of kindness. Then the Right, with dreams of discipline. In anger once, he marked Far Left—before reverting to the Far Right when trains continued not to run to time.

But year after year, nothing ever changed. The pension office continued to lose his forms. The roads continued to be pockmarked with holes, and the local hospital had more beds than doctors. Nevertheless, Otto believed—because he had to.

One afternoon, as he left the polling booth, a boy carrying a camera approached him and said, "Sir, why do you keep voting if nothing ever changes?"

Otto hesitated. He hadn't been unsure of anything in years. Then he grumbled, "Because maybe this time, they'll mean what they say…" 

He stormed away, the boy leaning in on his ballot receipt. Written in red ink in bold letters: "Vote counted. Change pending."

Moral: 

When we make the same decisions without thinking, we don't alter the system—we just redecorate the walls of the same old room.

Inspiration:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein