Answer the Call

I got up from a brief nap to answer the phone yesterday, and

was greeted by a young man who said

“Your Senator Carl Levin is about to vote on a new tax on our energy supplies, that will cost Americans billions of dollars.  We’re asking people if they are in favor of this new tax on energy.”

I said, “Well, yes, I am very much in favor of this bill. And what you are doing is wrong.”

Pause.

“So you think I’m wrong?”

“Well, yeah.

We’ve been addicted to fossil fuels for a century, we’ve got climate change, oil billowing out of the Gulf of Mexico, people dying in the middle east to fight over the last few drops of oil, and we need desperately to break this cycle and get off fossil fuels.

What you’re doing is urging people to continue the oil companies agenda of war after war, pollution and climate change, and I think that’s bad for America, for the planet and for our children.”

He said, “You know sir, you may have a point.”

Pause.

“You think, maybe I shouldn’t be doin’ this job?”

“Look man, every body needs to do what they have to do to get by, if you need the job, do it.”

He said, “I wonder if a job is really that important.?”

“Well, everyone’s got to figure that out for themselves.”

“Well, thank you sir, you may have just answered that for me.”