Snow

Several years ago when we were living in Massachusetts, we had a snow storm like this on May 10th.  Somehow, we don’t expect it to be snowing after the first day of Spring.  The weatherman urged everyone to stay home saying, “They’re not plowing the roads so you can go get a cheeseburger.”  It seems like we have lost the joy or simple serenity. 

I remember many times as an elected official for the City of O’Fallon when constituents would call me nearly every snow storm demanding their streets be plowed immediately!  Although every street is on a schedule, it is physically impossible to plow every street at once.  The reason many people are so demanding of these services is because of a simple truth. This happens to be one of the few services we actually see, for all the tax dollars we pay.

This storm turned out to be destructive on trees and buildings because it was wet and heavy.  It also gave us a graphic illustration of the harm caused by tax increases.  The snow came down one flake at a time, just like many tax increases are just a few cents here and there.  When the taxes accumulate, they become oppressive and will destroy the enjoyment of our labor.

While you don’t have a choice of how many snow flakes hit your home, we do have a choice when we see a tax increase on the ballot.  No matter how wonderful the proposal sounds, if it doesn’t pass, your politicians will either find another way to fund it or they really didn’t need the money after all.

The best act of civic courtesy you can give the snow plow operators, police and ambulance departments is to stay off the streets so that they can get through to do their jobs.

The best gift you can give yourself, is to spend the time reading my newsletters, listening to our podcasts and becoming a more engaged citizen.  Tonight I am guest hosting on this show:

Feel free to call in with your questions.

A Little Bit of Humor…