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Virginia C apitol C onnections, Fall 2016
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A Snapshot of Where We Are
By Edgar H. Thompson
Most people don’t have much good
to say about politicians at this moment in
time. However, when individuals are elected
to office in Virginia, when they come to
Richmond, I believe the vast majority want to
serve their fellow citizens, their communities.
Given this desire, what issues must they
address? The situation within the electorate is
not as simple as it used to be. Consider what
has happened to me and my wife in just the
last week.
At breakfast Monday, when I asked our waitress for more coffee,
she said, “No Problem,” When I asked for the check, she said, “No
Problem.” I wanted to ask her if it was a problem that my wife I came
into her restaurant to buy breakfast, in part so she could get paid? Today,
“No Problem,” suggests that something was a problem to begin with. It
is as if you are saying, “I am entitled. I am owed your money and your
attention just because I am me. In other words, it is everyone else’s
job to remove all barriers or issues or problems for those who are not
anointed. I said nothing.
On the way to cataract surgery Tuesday—my second eye—,
a Henrico Police officer stopped traffic near Broad Street to let
some Canadian Geese cross the road. I didn’t mind this, but when I
was working on my doctorate at Virginia Tech, my wife’s office was
in Cassell Coliseum. When I used to pick her up for lunch, often the
football team crossed in front of me. They didn’t stop for cars, cars
stopped for them. The geese reminded me of this naïve entitled attitude.
We went to a home building supply store Wednesday evening, and
there were no shopping carts at the front door. A worker at Customer
Service found us one, and that was a help. Then we went looking for
someone to help us buy plantation blinds for the new house we have
bought. We could find no one. We asked three people before we found
a person who could help. We were assured that someone would contact
us about coming to measure our windows for blinds within 24 hours.
Three days later, we are still waiting to be contacted. Think about this
scenario—we couldn’t find anyone to take our order for a service we
needed that this store sold, until I got aggressive about finding the
appropriate representative—the one who knew something—while
other employees walked by and pleaded ignorance. Is this store in
business to make money? At what cost to the consumer?
A worker at our local post office was rude to my wife. She asked
him if she had to bring anything back to the post office if she did the
address change on line. “I said, do it on line,” was his order to my wife as
she questioned him. I suspect his behavior was age or gender based. He
has never taken this tone with me. Then again, I went into a convenience
store the other night to buy a bag of ice. I asked an employee if a 10
pound bag was the smallest they had. She said it was, and then another
worker asked me what I wanted, and I tried to answer her question, but
the one who had initially answered my question interrupted me, and
said that she had answered my question. About her coworker, she said,
“She is hard of hearing.” It was as if I had done something wrong, was
somehow disrespectful of her hearing-impaired co-worker. How? I was
trying to answer the question I had been asked. I have white hair, and
I may appear gruff, but I was polite. I was just a potential customer.
Since when does a customer have to go above and beyond to be served
by workers in a situation like this one? I was offended by this whole
experience. I went across the street to buy my ice. I was treated fairly
there.
Friday, I tried to use a MacDonald’s App for two breakfast
sandwiches, one free. I had my wife’s phone with me and the square
bar code ready. The older employee couldn’t figure out how to use the
App and called the manager over. The manager said she would add it in
at the end, implying she wouldn’t need my square bar code. The worker
finished our order. She then called the manager back over, who informed
me she did in fact need my phone bar code. I retrieved my wife’s phone,
and concluded the transaction. This App has been available for months,
if not over a year. Why have all employees not been trained how to use
it? The manager, in her 30s I guess, looked askance at the employee as
if it was the employee’s fault this transaction was not going smoothly.
I wondered who had trained, or not trained, this employee adequately.
Does this business have the goal of making money, and if so, at what
expense to the customer?
Maybe my life is different from yours, but in conversations with
friends and people I have come into contact with over the last fewweeks,
what I have just described is not uncommon. It
is clear that we have problems across the board
we have not had before that makes solving
the numerous political dilemmas we face as a
society very difficult. We live in a world where
we all expect more than perhaps we should, or
maybe we are not getting the care and attention
we really deserve. I do believe that leaders at
all levels, and particularly our elected leaders,
need to demonstrate patience and be willing to
go above and beyond in modeling exemplary
behavior for all of us to follow and mimic at this
time in our lives.
Herb Thompson is a widely published poet,
essayist, and literary critic. His research
interests include the AmericanWest, play,
literacy, and educational policy.
Legislative Counsel
John G. “Chip” Dicks
FutureLaw, LLC
1802 Bayberry Court, Suite 403
Richmond, Virginia 23226
(804) 225-5507 (Direct Dial)
(804) 225-5508 (Fax)
A d o p t - A - S c h o o l
Adopt-A-School is a service of Virginia Capitol
Connections that allows sponsors to provide schools
of their choice with government-related educational
materials throughout the year. If you have any questions
or would like to sponsor a school please contact Kristen
Bailey-Hardy at or by phone
at (804) 643-5554.
Additional thanks to Joseph Romeo, Jr. and
former Delegate Paul Cline who are new
supporters in our Adopt-A-School Program.
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