Happy New Year.

It's been a while since I posted here. I'm a bit sick of gaming/FAQ writing at the moment--I stretched my goal for # of documents a few times near the end of the year & got to my final goal with 3 documents submitted but not posted before year's end. It was fun to do on vacation/slow time, but I think I put bigger things aside for it.

There's a lot to do in the new year, a lot of small new stuff and important new stuff. I called up a state senator today, then a state representative's office, about mass transit. I'd never done it before. I managed to ask some pretty decent questions including how to call if I disagree with a vote, or if I may disagree. The person there was helpful.

Well, next is the governor's office. He supports a solution for mass transit in the Chicagoland area, and I think he's had a point when vetoing some revenue solution(er, tax increases,) but I'm upset with the way he's handled things. So I needed a few minutes to be polite.

I may get back to games in a few months, but this is part of a new sort of challenge of things I want to do, as in just bugging people more, period. I recommend everyone else try writing their representatives as well, taking 5-10 minutes to say what they mean on an issue important to them. You won't be the dumbest person mailing them, and it may lead to being more assertive in matters you CAN fully control.

You could say calling up elected officials is a lot like writing a review. Whether or not you respect the officials themselves, you need to respect the office by making good points and laying them out civilly and efficiently. I guess you don't get to make a catchy tagline, but oh well.

Comments 6

sashanan Jan 2, 2008

Interesting comparison. In general, for "people like us" (if I may use that awful term implying all sorts of buddy buddy mentality out of nowhere based on a perceived similar character trait), being more assertive than we'd normally be can only be a good thing.

Myself, I lean toward not expressing my opinion, even at times not really standing up for my rights, out of an unreasonable fear of being considered pushy, or arrogant, or a whiner. When in reality I'm so far removed from those traits that what I think of as "too much" is probably just right.

I don't know if I'd have the patience to tangle with politicians, however :P

honestgamer Staff Jan 2, 2008

I've written to state representatives a time or two and got a response from their office. I'm not afraid to assert myself on occasion.

daff Jan 2, 2008

I go down to Chicago a few times a year to visit friends and I get so pissed when I have to start paying tolls as soon as I cross over in to IL from WI. Now you have to almost exit of the highway to pay the tolls.

aschultz Blogger Jan 7, 2008

If you sort out your opinion and say, this is what I see.

It's extremely bad PR for a politician's office to be unresponsive, and realizing that helped a lot.

The way I look at it, if I don't get a politician's ear, someone with baser motives will.

They got doubled up to pay for apparently much needed road repair in 2003. The roads are pretty bad here, backed up a county or two for cars going into Chicago. It's a mess, but I can't think of solutions. At least the tolls are mostly on the people in the suburbs who can afford them.

I actually blew a couple of tollbooths when I rented a car to go to Iowa. It's not too bad to pay online, but the reconstruction made things so confusing, especially at night.

In Wisconsin, though, apparently they have a lot more speed traps, which evens things out I guess.

I know it's easy to get into a shell where people just complain about their representatives as if they were the weather and nothing could be done. I think it got to the point where I spent more time worrying or wondering about making the call than actually making the call.