Why Does Everybody Try to Please Everyone
Else?
Volume 13, Number 22
Issue 622
This week's column was written by M. Robert Hines, a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University, majoring in accounting. Rob is an outstanding role model for his peers and it has been my honor to work with him for three years. In 2004, he declared his candidacy for the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors' 2007 election cycle-DBR.
Everywhere you look, someone is trying to please somebody else. Is it because they love the other person, because they are generally a nice person, or just because they want something in return?
Truly, if two people are in love, they are going to do anything possible to make the other person happy. And, there are some who are generally nice and would go completely out of their way to make others happy. Either of these examples can be understood.
What about the people who are nice to you because they want something in return? A good example of this is when the big-name politicians get you to spend $1,000 or more to come eat a meal with them. What do you really get out of that meal? You may get a handshake and a five-minute conversation with the guy that stands on television once a week saying how well things are going. Meanwhile his campaign leaders run off with your money to make their next negative advertisement about the opponent.
Now let me clear myself before I go to far. I am not speaking of every politician or every meal you pay to eat with the politician you support. I am talking about the people who do not know your name or do not attempt to learn your name. This does not happen too often at a local level, but at the state and federal levels it happens all the time.
If you came to David's campaign dinners when he ran for soil and water district director you would probably recognize me. For those of you who invested in David's campaign, you did it right, and you should feel happy about your investment. You should remember David being personal with all of you and really listening to your ideas of what he should do once elected. That is how, I believe, the political system was originally built.
Don't get me wrong; I love politics and the entire strategy behind being elected for a position whether it is with the local, state, or federal government. I plan to be an elected official in the near future, and I plan to care about and do my best to get to know all of my constituents. Everyone should get my attention, not just the people who gave me money during my campaign.
M. Robert Hines
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