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Sunday, February 03, 2008

Something that Elisabeth said reminded me...

of something that happened to a friend of mine:

Interestingly, about four years ago, I made an attempt at becoming involved with the democratic party in my little town (which is overwhelmingly republican.) I thought that this would help me meet townies who were not connected to the university where I teach. This proved to be a bust, because the people involved in the democratic party in my town form a tight-knit clique that was not really into opening itself to newcomers ...


True story: My friend Joan had always been a member of the Democratic party when she lived in the city, and did a lot of volunteer work for them. She worked hard, because she enjoyed politics. When she moved to the suburbs, she called the local (Democratic) party leaders and offered herself as a volunteer. They told her they had nothing for her to do and had no need for her services.

So Joan volunteered for the Republican party. They were delighted to get her, and last I heard, she was county chairwoman. She is now, of course, a rabid Republican.

C'est le premier pas qui coute. I'm not too sure I remember the French rightly, so I'll paraphrase: it is the first step that counts--or to put it another way and quote a Chinese proverb, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

4 comments:

Tat said...

May be I misunderstood the story, but the way it's written it seems that your friend Joan haven't got any principles, just a burning desire to make a career - in this case, a career of political activist.

Does Republican party needs people like that? It might...one of the reasons why I'm not a Republican.

miriam sawyer said...

I think Joan just wanted to be of use. She works hard and gets no reward for it but satisfaction at doing a good job.

Elisabeth said...

Wow, what a story about your friend but, just like tat, I don't really understand why she needed to be accepted so badly that she switched allegiances so quickly (in spite of what you answered to tat about Joan wanting to be "of use.")

miriam sawyer said...

Joan probably learned to like and trust the Republican politicians she met and gradually came over to their point of view.

I guess we didn't all hate each other then.

Joan wanted to do something worthwhile in the world. Her day job was teaching pregnant teens.