Day 14: Write my Congressman
I heard on the radio this morning that today is "Meet you at the pole." If you are unfamiliar with this tradition it is a day set aside for students all over the country to meet together at their school's flagpole to pray for our nation and its leaders. As soon as I heard this I thought it was quite serendipitous that I chose writing to my representative in congress as my new thing for today.
The goal of my not so little 30th birthday challenge was to have some fun experiences and cross a few things off my to-do list. To be quite honest writing to my congressman (or in this case congresswoman) was never really on that list. I'm not really the political action type. I'm not even the sit down and watch the evening news type. Writing to my congressional representative was just something I had always heard people say was an important thing to do and, more importantly, I could squeeze it into my already busy day.
First things first, I had to figure out who the heck I was supposed to be writing to. I found out I live in California's 47th district and my representative is Loretta Sanchez (D). Now, what in the world was I going to write to her about? I wanted it to be relevant and current, but I also wanted it to be something I actually cared about. Since I don't watch the news or keep current on any of the issues my options were slim to none. In the end I decided to voice my opinion on California's issue of same sex marriage. More specifically, I used that as a way of addressing my biggest grievance, that of the flawed practice of lawmakers overturning a decision that has been clearly approved by voters.
Unlike so many of my fun little activities, this one has no real immediate result to make it seem like something worth doing. I did find out a couple cool things along the way. Did you know you can order an American Flag from your representative, and even request to have it flown over the U.S. Capitol (that's way better than just picking one up at Target!). I also found a great website that tells you who your elected representatives are and what they've been up to voting wise. Check out www.congress.org. As for my letter, maybe she'll read it, maybe she won't. More than likely some underpaid intern will give it a quick glance and send me a standard form letter response. Either way, writing to your elected official makes you feel like your normal griping and moaning might have a fighting chance of being heard by someone who can actually do something about it. Whatever happens, I certainly have a slightly heightened interest in all things political, but even so, don't expect me to be tuning in to C-Span any time soon.
I am so proud of you! Perhaps you'll know how to vote this year too! ;-)
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