A true tale of two text messages -- wait for the punchline

I live in the 20th House District, so my mailbox has been overflowing with mailings in the Darbro-Stephens race. We've received multiple pieces on several days -- pro-Dabro pieces, anti-Dabro pieces, pro-Stephens pieces, anti-Stephens pieces -- I think our one-day record was five pieces.

But even if you don't have a hotly-contested legislative race in your home district, we are all subject to the never ending plague of commercials any time you dare to turn on the TV. And, of course, we are all bombarded with phone calls and text messages urging your support for this candidate or that one. But, this past weekend, I received two text messages about the judicial retention election that I think are worth sharing.

It took all my techno-skills to transfer the teeny tiny graphic from my cell phone to the screen before you. And it wasn't printed at full width even there. Millennials must have keen eyesight. Members of Gen Z (should we be calling them "Zoomers" now?) also.

The text accompanying this micro-graphic read as follows:

Hi Francis, this is the final weekend to vote early! Find your nearest location here and be sure to vote against Republican Judge Michael Toomin, #206: https://chicagoelections.gov/en/early-voting.html

This text was received Friday evening.

Another text came in Saturday morning. It read:

Hi Francis, don't let Trump or any politician mess w/ our judicial system. VOTE YES to retain qualifed judges including Michael Toomin. VOTE YES!
Txt9tostop

Big deal, you say. Everyone gets texts on both sides of every issue, for and against every candidate. And, of course, I would ordinarily agree with you on that. Ordinarily.

But this is different. Promise.

And the reason why this is so, is that both of these texts came from the same number. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Capitalism in action.