Civic meetings

Recently, I've gone to several civic meetings in regards to a proposed highway that could cut right through my small town. I'm vehemently against it, and it seems like most people in my area are as well. The mayor of the town where I live (it's very small, under 5,000 people) and my town administrator have spoken out against it. So have all the county commissioners of the much bigger county near me. Our elected leaders of all political stripes have listened to the people and are all against it as well. The only people in favor of it is the Florida Department of Transportation. Putting aside my personal views for a minute, it's very interesting to see the people band together and become move involved in their government process.

According to one mayor who has lived in the town for over 60 years, "I've never seen more people come out against something in my entire life." I believe him-I've been involved in one way or another for many civic issues and I've never seen it either. It's one thing to engage in Facebook activism, it's another thing to actually go to meetings and protests and put your time and money where your mouth is.

As I get older I have increasingly less and less sympathy for people who spout off about politics while never leaving their couch. This goes for your drunk uncle who never left his hometown at Thanksgiving spouting off about illegal immigration and border walls and your sister who at age 24 tweets about Trump being a Nazi yet she's never registered to vote in her life. If you really want to be taken seriously-get off your ass and get involved.