What I would like to share is a joke on me. It only has to
do with the words politician and lobbyists. When I was a very young mother I
felt strongly about things like childcare, volunteering, principles. With those topics in mind somehow I was roped
into helping others to get the ‘child restraint law’ passed in the state of
Oklahoma.
Getting my baby girl and I ready to go out was an adventure
in itself. But this cause drove me to
the showers. Plotting nap time around this important event and getting the two
of us to the capitol was tactical.
I’ve always been kind of a zealot on my causes, eager,
wide-eyed, excited to help. I’m the
grinning one doing anything and everything for the cause. It makes me giddy knowing that I’m helping
something bigger than my little life complaints.
On the day that I, and my beautiful baby in her stroller,
went into the center of the capitol rotunda, there was a group of seasoned lobbyist
all waiting to hit the halls running. I was ignorant, but joyful. Ready to show
these law makers the innocent baby they were not protecting if they didn’t pass
this law. (As if I wasn’t going to
buckle, strap, cover, guard and drive 19 miles per hour with this wonderful
gift I had received in the name of Motherhood…) But needless to be redundant,
my heart was singing, “Charge!”
The group was having a small meeting of the minds and one
said, “We need to impress upon them that their constituents wants this law
passed!”
I joyfully and loudly, remember it was in the rotunda, said,
“Yeah, and their voters too!”
They all looked at me.
One guy leaned over and whispered, “Constituents are their voters…”
Oops, zeal before ignorance can make red faces. We got the law passed that time, despite my
massive ignorance.
