(I am really happy, and quite gratified, in several ways....)
Worker #7 had what I thought was a good idea for a way to prevent deaths in mining accidents. It was some sort of engineering concept, sort of -- beyond me, I would not have thought of it -- but it sounded like it had merit.
She had the idea a year or two ago, when there was a mining accident in the news. Then in April of this year when the Upper Big Branch thing happened, I encouraged her to write a letter to our congressional delegation, describing her idea -- if it has merit, it could be incorporated into federal safety regulations.
# 7 was skeptical: she doesn't vote, and is not in the habit of participating in this fashion.
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Why is it important to me that people do this kind of stuff?
A. You never know where the next big idea is going to come from.
B. Individuals should feel / know that their ideas are important and could have merit and usefulness.
C. Government should listen. (If all they ever get are fake letters from special interest groups and death threats, that hurts communication; they're bound to stop listening. You gotta put something positive in there.)
[Want to digress for only a moment -- to illustrate Item "A": I was on the phone once with a governor-elect -- I said the members of the association I represented had several ideas to offer him, to try to solve a particular funding problem. He said he had already had meetings with some people and they had thought of everything.
* * * *
Does that leave you as cold as it left me?
They had already thought of everything.
Everything.
Everything?
Really?
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It is enough to make you laugh, isn't it? Out loud, I said something like, "Okay," and then kept talking around toward another position to try to get something done, and inside my mind I was thinking, "Man, there's a level of arrogance to which I'm not yet accustomed."]
The way I got around #7's skepticism was, I typed up her idea in a letter and asked her to edit it, then did a final copy, and copies of it which she then agreed to sign. (Did my enthusiasm catch on, with my co-worker? Or did she only want to "get me off her back" as they say? Don't know.)
We sent copies of the letter to our own congressional delegation, one or two West Virginia people, and copied the White House.
And #7 told me upon my arrival at work today, that she had received a letter from the president. (I couldn't believe she did not have the letter with her -- I can't wait to read it tomorrow!!!)
The fact that it took four months before a letter came back, tells me that some people on the president's team really read that letter and considered the ideas in it.
Worker #7 may still not vote, but if she and people in her family consider voting someday, it might be partly because they got a good impression because the president (or some of his people) considered her ideas, and valued her opinion.
You know, it's like -- if they ever do vote, this effort didn't hurt, & may have helped, in that direction.
Plus they will tell their friends and more people will have a positive idea of democracy, and their part in it.
(Perhaps this is Voting Obsession, Part 2.)
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