The Need to Be Heard
South Carolina has been a hotbed of activity for the last 2 weeks, but the most interesting thing that happened to us yesterday happened on the phone. It wasn’t (just) the push polls and robocalls, it was our Austin friends calling to make sure we had gone to the polls and taken advantage of our opportunity to participate!
Texas boasts a lot of great things, but one thing they don’t have is a voice in shaping party tickets for the presidential election. I’d have to say the folks who called were a little envious that, because of our address, our voices count and theirs don’t. It was extremely gratifying for us to visit the polls yesterday and then watch the coverage last night and know we had been heard.
Being heard is a deep, universal need. It is an outward confirmation of our existence and importance. In the last week, I have had need to send notes to 2 brands about which I care very deeply, and have not heard back from either. I am still holding out hope that they will acknowledge me, but intellectually I know that those pings will go the way of the feelings of Texas Democrats – unrecognized – and it will change the way I connect to those brands going forward.
One Reply to “The Need to Be Heard”
Being in one of the northeastern Super Tuesday states, I don’t know that my vote will do much, but that didn’t stop me from freaking out this week about making sure I knew what address I was registered at and where to go.