Have you ever thought you might like to be in the Senate or perhaps a Congressman? Which would you want to be a representative in your State Congress or in the US Congress? I know I would love to have the benefits in either place – the pay, too. Especially in the US Congress. We pay them a boatload of money every year to have people wait on them hand and foot and fly here and there at a whim. I can’t help but wonder, am I getting my moneys worth? I don’t think so!
In my younger days I was a manager for a wonderful gift shop, Calico Cat in Tampa. It was the best job I ever had yet it was also the most difficult. I not only stood on my feet all day but I had to lift furniture, tote boxes, hang pictures on walls, dust more than you will ever know, hire and fire and smile all day long. The hiring was a breeze. I hired people that loved the store. I once hired a young person that feigned a love for the store but it was quickly evident that they loved the things they liked to do more. There was not a feeling of attachment or love of the store so they just didn’t feel it was necessary to be there if they got a better offer of something to do. This left everyone else stranded and the staff shorthanded. I went back to hiring people that loved the store and everything in it. I hired people who came in as customers often. As the manager, I felt everything within the four walls was my responsibility. That is a huge responsibility but I had an owner that knew that was how I felt and that is why she trusted me to take care of her store. She had three stores and a main office so she needed to know her business was being well cared for.
I look at our government and feel there is not anyone who feels they have “skin in the game”. They have been there a long time – some for thirty or forty years – and they only thing they do for us is give us a smile as they “stick it to us”. I especially feel abused when I hear about the “Affordable Care Act” and about their inability to give us, the American People, an idea of how they will cut spending.
I want to take you back to Calico Cat and the lessons I learned from Susan Clark, the owner of the store, that I would like to apply to our government.
1. Vote for people that have a LOVE for this country. Not for those that have a great slogan or promise something you know they can’t deliver. People talk about how Romney is so rich. Yes he is rich so he is not applying for the job of President because he wants to make money and he is certainly well known already so he doesn’t need a leg up with what others can do for him. He gave up the job that provided him with money to head our US Olympic Committee in 1999 because they were having financial difficulties. He was able to turn the problems of the Olympics into success. He had a love for the athletes and the joy they could bring the American people as they were in the Olympics.
2. Keep a smile on your face – even during adversity. If you have an angry customer in a gift shop and they want to rant and rave and get louder and louder, just like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, you need to smile back and present the FACTS, not join the shouting match. Do I think Romney needs to be more passionate and perhaps shout and yell? No, I think that he needs to come out with a sincere smile on his face and show the passion he has for America while he talks about the issues that are important to the American people like JOBS and TAXES. While I may think TAXES is my main issue, I think JOBS is the issue for far more people out of work right now. I also think Romney needs to address a plan on how he would take people that are part of our “Hand-out System” and give them a desire to be self-sufficient. The Obama party is saying Romney will take everything away from them on day one. Romney’s version of “Growing the Economy” is the best way to go, and I get that, but HOW does it work for people on assistance? Some people are not Mensa candidates and can’t see how the Romney plan works. I see it and appreciate it but I am 62 years old and lived through this type of economy before. Young people, especially those under 30, don’t have any economic understanding of “Growing the Economy” and how it can help them. They only know that someone is sending them a check all of the time and that works for them. They don’t even have to get off their couch or turn off the TV to have the money drop in their account. They don’t care that the money comes from you and me.
3. This is my big tip of the day – When I worked for Susan Clark I learned she was a great problem solver. She believed that if you came to her with a problem, you should bring two solutions to the problem. She explained that if you come with two solutions you have fully thought out the problem and weren’t married to one solution or the other. Because you had two solutions, Susan would work with you to combine both of the solutions and add her own take to the issue and come up with a plan that was the best solution for the problem. I learned so much from this woman that I could write a book. In Congress today, if both sides could come to the table with two solutions to every problem there would be four solutions and neither side could say the other wasn’t working because together they could blend the four into a solution for the American people. We deserve that, don’t we? They work for us, don’t they?
I made under $450 a week managing a staff of people that loved their job and they made little more than minimum wage. I loved my job and worked more hours than I care to remember BUT I loved the store. It wasn’t money that kept me there it was the passion I had for the company where I worked. Do the people we have elected show that they love or have passion for the AMERICAN people? Do they think of the AMERICAN people, all of them, not just the ones in their state, when they come up with bills or add expensive things to good bills? If you answered no, think about who you are voting for this election. Perhaps we need to change things from the top down.
