insurgent49
  updated weekly
 home - contribute - donate -  message board - events - links - contact us - archive
January 26, 2007
The Tao of Waitressing
by Lindsay Luckey, insurgent49

     I went to university in Salem, the capital city of Oregon.  Aptly called “So Lame” by some of the more clever residents, it’s best qualities are often listed as how easy it is to escape from.  “You’re an hour from Portland, forty-five minutes from Eugene, close to the coast and the mountains.” 

     My small, private, beautifully landscaped, often stiflingly small liberal arts college was literally across the street from the Capitol building. 

     A place committed to liberal ideals, the school’s motto was “not unto ourselves alone are we born”.  I decided to study all things international, partly because I like the “big-picture”, mainly because I could spend a few months in Europe and still graduate on time.   And when our school started a newspaper program that brought us some of the nation’s finest, I put my nose into the New York Times and read the local Statesmen Journal for … well, okay … I didn’t really read it.

     My point being that, even though I was in an institution of higher learning and very interested in politics, local politics were completely off my radar.  And we could hear the alarm sound when legislators left their parking garage from our classrooms. 

     With the windows closed.

     Now I’m probably not as aware as a lot of Alaskans on state politics, but I’m probably more aware than some. 

    It wasn’t until I graduated and was faced with going home, trying to find a “real job in my field” while working at McDonalds that I sought work as support staff in the legislative committee offices … kind of like a real job in that I had to get up before ten, not wear what I slept in and got to pick out a dental plan, but not like a real job in that I was able to continue living with my still-in-college roommates and attend still-in-college kind of events.

     I worked on a committee that had to deal with one of the hotbutton issues of the session. And as with pretty much any issue, in any field that anyone’s ever had to deal with, ever, there was no easy solution.  I did not envy the difficult job before the lawmakers, and found myself enormously impressed with many of the legislators and agency people who made me understand what it means to be a servant of the public.
 
     But what impressed me most was how many regular people spent some of their precious leisure time (people working REAL real jobs) in the basement of the Capitol building just waiting for their chance to heard.  Some people drove for hours to attend the evening meetings.  And a couple of times we took the committee on the road.  There were hours-long meetings with dozens of stories all similar but unique in their details.  Some people typed their speeches out and distributed copies to the committee members, others just spoke off the cuff, some choked back tears, others became enraged. 

     It usually didn’t matter what side they had spoken for, the look when they were finished speaking was the same: relief and maybe a little bit of pride.  They had been heard.  And even if legislators ended up voting differently, at least they had been treated with respect and the people in charge had made an effort to hear them out.
And even more encouraging was that once everyone was finished giving testimony and my job was done and the microphones turned off, the dialogue continued. 

     Neighbors swapping stories, neighbors disagreeing, testifiers asking legislators questions and vice versa.  Personal relationships were made, cemented or strained.  But at least people were talking and had faces to put with ideas. 

     Not everyone was happy with the result.  Everyone never is.  But it’s easier to understand the outcome when you were a part of the discussion.  Or at least invited to the party.  Or at the very least have the capability to drive to the party even if it takes a few hours.  Or less than that, have the party near a major airport.  Or take turns hosting the party.  Or keep the party far away but make it easier for people to watch and participate from afar.  Or send a few partiers out for some future party ideas. 

     Do something.

     Because Juneau is really far away.  I can’t even hear the music playing.  I’m not straining to hear it, but I shouldn’t have to. 







     Lindsay Luckey is a waitress and aspiring Renaissance woman. She lives and works in undisclosed locations in downtown Anchorage, and can be reached at lindsay@insurgent49.com.

     'The Tao of waitressing' appears on insurgent49.com every Friday.
- Columnists -

Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Rank and File
by Nova Stubbs

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

The
Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford


The Tao
of Waitressing
by Lindsay Luckey







Copyright 2005 Insurgent Media. All Rights Reserved.
in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.