Me, wearing my “Love in Politics Pledge” shirt I got from Vote Common Good, sitting in a waiting room with a young woman, maybe 22-ish, wearing cute trendy clothes and rocking super cool hair. #IGotAThingForCoolHair

Employee: Sorry. We’re running late.

Me: No problem. I’m early and have plenty of time.

Woman: My other appointment was canceled so I’ve got plenty of time too.

Woman [to me]: I was supposed to pick up my parents from the airport but they got snowed in. All the flights got canceled. 

Me: Well at least snow’s not something we have to worry about here. We’ve had some tornadoes lately, kinda weird, but not snow.

Woman: I do love to see the snow in the mountains.

Me: Me too. To visit. And then leave it there. 

Woman [laughs]: Where are you from? 

Me: Originally from Arkansas but I’ve been in Arizona since ’98.

Women: Wow. You’ve been in Arizona longer than I’ve been alive. I’ve only been here for five years.

Me: And I’ve literally been in Arizona half my life. 

[Silence – I open my phone and begin to browse]

Woman: I’d like to move to a place like Arkansas or Tennessee. It’s not as hot or cold there.

Me: Ya, Arkansas gets more sleet than snow. The summer is like 100 degrees with 98% humidity though.

Woman: The heat here kills me. 

Me: It doesn’t bother me. But my husband hates it. He doesn’t like extreme hot or cold. He wants to move to San Diego.

Woman: I have friends in San Diego. It gets cold there. Like freezing sometimes. 

Me: Ya, and they get a fog that shuts down the airport sometimes. That wouldn’t work for me.

Woman: At least we don’t get that cold here. But we got frost last night.

Me: Ya, maybe 34 sometimes but mostly 40 is our lowest.
I’m Deedra by the way. 

Woman: I’m [censored].

Me: I’m running for office. Around here, in fact. County Board of Supervisors.

Woman: Oh. [looks away]

[Silence – I go back to my phone]

Woman: What does the Board of Supervisors do?

Me: They’re basically the US Senate of the County. They’re over all the county agencies and offices. They decide about all the programs and funding for the county. If you want alternative sentencing programs, they decide. If you want animal shelters, they decide.

Woman: Oh. [looks away]

[Silence – I go back to my phone]

Woman: I don’t get involved in politics. 

Me: I get that. It’s complicated. But we’ve got a lot going on locally. Your vote is your power. You can check out local people who are running, find some you like, and check the boxes of good people on your ballot.

Woman: My faith doesn’t believe in voting. We stay neutral.

Me: So you let others decide for you. What do you do when they make decisions that hurt you? Or hurt your neighbor?

Woman: What happens in this life is not our responsibility. God puts people in power for a purpose. God decides what happens. 

Me: I was always taught God works through us. 

Woman: We are created in his image. We’re not God. We leave this life to him. 

[Silence – I return to my phone]

Woman: I think politics is interesting though. I don’t think it’s wrong to watch what’s going on. But I stay neutral.

Me: Here’s my card. You can look me up and see what we’re doing.

[She takes card and looks at it. Silence. I go back to my phone]

Woman: I just thank God we live in a country that allows us to be neutral. 

[I smile and say nothing – returning to my phone]

Woman: A lot of countries don’t allow people to be neutral. 

Me: I’m not aware of any countries forcing people to be politically involved. I can name a lot that are preventing people from participating.

Woman: In Russia, if you’re not part of the government, they assume you are against them. Russia jails a lot of our people because of our religious beliefs prevent us from participating in politics.

Me: That’s religious oppression. Russia does that to a lot of religious people. Even Muslims. They don’t want people to stand up for their freedoms or participate in politics. That’s the point.

Employee: Deedra, you can go back.

Me [to woman]: It was nice meeting you.

Woman: You too.

#SeedPlanting