It seems to be generally accepted that one’s wealth does not necessarily reflect how happy they are. The craving that we have for more is almost inevitable even though those of us who seem to be the unhappiest live more than comfortably. I do any more than speculate about the overall happiness of the ones whom I’ve spoken with when canvassing, but I do have something to say about how open and genuine they were.
The congressional district that I was campaigning with had trailer parks, houses worth upwards of a million dollars, and just about everything in-between. After a couple of months of being sent anywhere and everywhere to knock on doors, I decided to make my boss aware that it would make me the happiest intern if i were only sent to neighborhoods in one specific, lower-income city from then on. Why? Because they were legitimately the nicest strangers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Before long, I had people in this aforementioned city recognizing me since I had eventually gotten around to knocking every neighborhood in that city several times (and yes, I spent an entire hour on Google Earth confirming this). They took time out of their busy lives to talk about politics. This was initially surprising to me because many of those who chose to speak to me knew little to nothing about politics — I still am not entirely sure if it was because they actually wanted to learn about our candidates or if they simply wanted to speak with me. Before being on a campaign and realizing how important conversations are, I probably would’ve been one of those who would not want to open the door.
This open-mindedness was definitely not present in the wealthiest neighborhoods I’ve been in. In fact, it was quite the opposite. People were incredibly rude to me and even though I’m not asking people to be super welcoming, it’s a real bummer when you spend hours in the hot sun, rain, or even flurries and people are yelling at you for asking if he or she is meaning to vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate. I just want to put it out there for anyone like that who might be reading this that it is possible to say that you’d rather not respond instead of giving a 16-year-old unpaid intern shit.
Ranting aside, my point here is that many of us, especially those in or above the upper middle class, tend to take the little things for granted and hide themselves in their houses where they can hear what they want to hear behind closed doors. Maybe sparing a moment of our time to hear opinions which might not necessarily reflect our own wold be good for us. Maybe we can choose to appreciate and celebrate the little things that money might not be able to buy.
We Are Our Change 