Like Father Like Son

My father would have loved the internet and email. He was thinking about getting a computer just before his death in 2000 but at 87 he was wondering if he wanted to learn yet one more new technology. He was a letter writer. To be more specific he was a crank, there was nothing government could do that he wouldn't find fault with. He would think about a problem and then write to the person or person in that part of government with a solution to the problem. He wrote numerous letters to the State of Washington about problems ranging from taxation to road repair. He wrote to the members of the state legislature and to the members of Washington's Congressional Delegation. Given the number of letters he wrote a computer and email would have been a real advantage.

Like my father I too write letters to Idaho's Congressional Delegation about things that I feel passionate about. Unlike my father I use the internet and I don't think I'm a crank, yet. I like being able to write something and send it immediately. Dad had an old typewriter, a large address book, lots of paper, envelopes and postage. I have a computer, Google and email. Unlike my father I tend to vent my feelings about issues and only rarely do I have an alternative. With the economy, the war in Iraq and all the bailouts I have had plenty to vent about.

As I think about it maybe I'm a crank. My father at least had solutions to the problems he wrote about, I just complain. I'm not to the point were I complain about kids moving the rocks in the driveway but it could be just a matter of time. I have a brain and my dad always was telling me to use it. Well dad, I'm going to follow your advice and work on some solutions and send those to the idiots in Washington D.C. Maybe then they will read what I write and maybe things will change for the better. O, wait now I'm being overly optimistic and dad was never that.