Speaking Up and Speaking Out

You know how sometimes you act then later you go, 'wow, I did that?'. In the span of 24 hours, I wrote a letter to President Obama and called the Traffic Engineering Department in Newport News VA.

To President Obama I sent a note of support. I hope he gets to read it. I suppose he gets thousands of letters/emails/calls a day. Anything is possible.

To the Traffic Engineer I gave a phone call. It was the quickest and most efficient way. As I sat in ridiculous traffic entering the business park of Oyster Point off Canon Blvd, I suddenly could not take it any longer. Sometimes I think those who plan the improvements to the cities we live in do not think about practical issues. Real day to day practical things that happen, you know, really happen. I will hand it to the gentleman who spoke with me on the phone, he was baffled at what I was saying, he was surprised that both lanes of traffic were just sitting during rush hour into the business park-but he took me seriously. There was a sliver of sarcasm that slipped from his tongue when he asked me, "well what time do you suggest we begin work on the road?" and I think he expected me to say something ignorant and asinine like "12 noon" or "at night".
Wasn't he surprised when I said something reasonable? Just let the bulk of the folks get into work rather than sitting and sitting during rush hour in. Start around 9 am. With budgetary conditions in mind, no going into overtime, I'm not suggesting that, but just start a tiny bit later.

He put me on hold. He didn't push the "hold" button so I heard the whole background conversation. He was relaying my comments to another person and that person was surprised as well. Hmm. Go figure. Do people in charge of our traffic patterns or road improvements go visit while work is going on? How could they not know this? He comes back and they looked at the contract, told me there were no time constraints listed in the contract and that they would approach the sub contractor about modifying the morning start time. They would also check to make sure the traffic light at that intersection was properly working so not holding folks up unnecessarily.

Regardless of the outcome, I like that I could call them while sitting in my car, waiting in that frustrating traffic, (which by the way blocks off a childcare center) and give my complaint to a live person who seemed reasonably concerned. Like my vent session for the day, but in a positive way. I was respectful in my phone call, but direct in my thoughts. A great combo when you want someone's attention.

Sometimes you have to speak up. You can't watch from the sidelines. A watched pot never boils. You have to get in there and make it happen. Make it boil yourself. Take that action. Even if it's a little action, take it.