One Friday, I was having a lunch with some close friends when one began to complain about highway construction going on in Philadelphia. Once a complaint about the government is made, then all of a sudden, more complaints will quickly follow.
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I used to keep quiet and not say anything. Usually, the person's eyes will light up and their head will turn in my direction with the internal recognition of my government day job.
Literally, I can see the thought process in their facial expressions. Hey, Tonya works for the State. Once we make eye contact, more complaints will flow. I really don't mind the venting, go head and let me know how bad the government is and how we really don't need health care reform. It is okay to ask me, where are all of my tax dollars going? I really don't mind your questions, thoughts, and opinions, though some people do say cruel things. A state corrections officer said directly to me "all politicians are crooks.", as he checked me through security to go into the local prison. Does he know I am a person with a heart? Does he care?
I will allow you to say your piece, and then when you are finished, I will tell you my side.
You are right, I am the government. I work ten to twelve hour days the majority of the year. I work on weekends, evenings and holidays. I have personal days and sick days during which I answer e-mails because time is of the essence and the grant support letters are due. On my desk are a pile of papers that I will have to find some way to accomplish and file in the hours left over. Each piece of paper is important, and has a life, business or an organization attached to it. The stories behind these letters can be very heartbreaking at times.
A person's request may seem simple, however, for accuracy we will usually do research and make phone calls to follow up on the facts.
Is this me complaining? No, not at all, it is just me just stating the truth as it exists in my world.
I love my work and my job. I love the United States of America. I am the government. I am the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I am a Chief of Staff to the State Representative of the 83rd Legislative District. It took awhile to accept all of that, but it is true. I am responsible for what happens in the government, and then again, I am just one tiny insignificant part of the whole system.
There are millions of other people in government like me, like Representative Mirabito, who have dedicated and committed their lives to being a part of the government system.
This brings me back to my original point that we are the government. Now, the next part, so are you. You and I are the government. We are all connected and have created this system. We are one. We are inseparable.
Is the government perfect? No.
Does the government have good intentions, corrupt parts, divine parts, working parts, failing parts, thriving parts? Absolutely.
The government is not perfect and neither are its people, the voters, the government program recipients, the campaign volunteers, the elected officials, the public school children, law enforcement members, municipal and county workers, firefighters, non-profit social workers, forest rangers, gas workers, military service members and their families, senior citizens, correction officers and the inmates. There are a lot of people in the government system and I may have left out some.
As I began to contemplate the enormity of the government, I began to see tax dollars every where. All of those people I mentioned who work for the government, their salaries are paid with our tax dollars. Our tax dollars provide for their families, rents, mortgages, school tuitions, groceries, clothing, new cars and junk from yard sales.
I started to become aware of where my tax dollars were being spent. I saw tax dollars in the roads I drove on, the stop sign that was posted, the hospital I use. Consider the police officer I called when someone was attempting to break into my home. Or the EMT who was helping the lady who had just had a heart attack on the road that PennDOT just paved the week before.
After attending school board meetings, I realized my entire public school education was provided by tax dollars from the states of California and Hawaii. My partial education at the United States Naval Academy and my four years in the U.S. Navy was paid by the federal government. Thank you.
It is all of our money. My awareness grew so that everywhere and everything was either provided, supported, protected, regulated or established by the government. Our quality of life is a product of the government.
When I wake up each morning in the United States, many people working for the government have allowed this to happen. When get a glass of water, turn on my lights, drive my car through just cleared snow on the interstate, when my airplane is given a new flight path, and when I turn on the news and am given an update on the latest disaster, war, or thwarted terrorist act, people in the government have just made that happen.
Many businesses are supported by government. I will have to write another essay on this subject. However, I will say this, if a corporation pays low wages, hires only part time workers, and/or provides no health insurance, there is a good chance, we the government may be helping that employee out in some way to live.
I hear people say that government is too big. I agree it is huge. It is the entire United States of America; it is all of us. Some of us work directly for the government, some of us work indirectly for the government when we pay our federal, state, local and business taxes. Some people receive pensions from having served the government well, and then there are some of us who are unable to work and are paid by the government. It is a fact that we are the government.
Once this idea popped into my head, I realized that the government is not good or bad, it just is. We have great people in the government and we have bad people in government. We have a lot of people that are in between doing the best they can in a difficult situation.
Times are tough for now; however, I see great things happening in our Commonwealth, and our nation. So I have hope for the future of our government, and us. I see people, churches, and non-profit organizations working together to get through these hard times, because the government needs our help and can not do it alone. It is so big and people are slipping through the cracks.
I am hoping this anti-government sentiment for the government ends soon, because I really like our country. We come from a rich historical legacy and from a people that have great dreams, and a divine purpose.
In conclusion, I’d like to share the Preamble to the United States Constitution.
"We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Tonya Anderson
Chief of staff for the 83rd legislative district, Pennsylvania
Tonya Anderson, works and lives in the lovely City of Williamsport,PA.. tander1210@gmail.com
