Thanks for Lobbying Our Office
by Anna Farro Henderson AKA E.A. Farro
The Hart Senate Office Building
This is what it means to live in the moment: my phone beeped, I saw I had an appointment, and now I am here. Five minutes ago, I was choking back tears—my colleague told me about a meeting with parents who lost their child to a rare disease that has no cure. Before that I was running alongside the Senator who had a vote so I could update him on negotiations for another bill.
Thank you for coming.
I can see that you are taller than me. You don’t need to stand so close.
Yup, I see that you are older too.
And yes, I am from the state.
Right in here, we have this conference room.
The dog? His name is Blaine.
Yes, I do leave my phone on. I make myself available twenty-four-seven to the Senator. Other than that, you have my undivided attention.
I am late, but my breasts would have been spraying milk with such force you would have thought I was setting off fireworks. I have a baby at home, and I needed to pump. So, how can I help you?
You only have twenty minutes left, and I am still unclear on your ask.
Twenty? Because the first ten you spent telling me about the time you saw my boss fifteen years ago. That is right, I am committed to giving you the whole thirty-minute window.
This is all interesting background, but why are you telling me this?
I know your name because it’s on the card in front of me, but I don’t know who you are. I think it would help if you backed up and started from the beginning. In thirty seconds, tell me who you are and why you are here.
It’s complicated? Well, try me.
Yes. I got your email earlier, and no, I didn’t open the attachments. I am taking notes now based on what you say.
Now ask for something—what are you trying to make happen?
That sounds important, but I still don’t understand how this connects to our state. Did you talk to the offices that represent the states where this is happening? Yes, they might not be in your political party, but they are human, and this is of direct relevance to their constituents.
If you don’t lay out the counter arguments, I will.
I’ve heard that statistic, but can you breathe life into it? Give me an image or a story that will haunt my dreams until I do everything I can to make something happen. Make the issue stick in my mind like gum on the bottom of a shoe. It’s not that I need motivation to work. It is that every moment here is overflowing.
If you go through the Senate’s procedures and add up the potential floor time each year, you can see the math doesn’t add up. There is not enough time for all the issues to come to the floor. We are drowning in problems that need solutions. Real people need help. Not everyone has the chance to thrive. Too many are just surviving.
I see you are passionate. And, yes, you are right, we could put every drop of our energy into your issue. But we are also really concerned about people living without insurance, the rate of veteran suicides, mass extinction of plant and animal species, children who don’t have enough to eat, human trafficking, and national security.
It is hard to hear that a long journey starts with a small step. That you never get the full loaf, and you are lucky to get a slice. There is someone else fighting the changes you want, for them the changes you are lobbying for are scary. Maybe those changes would put them out of business or force them to move out of their family home.
I’m not saying you are wrong, but what if they are also not wrong? What if their truth is different from yours? Every action has tradeoffs. That is why government is slow. That is why we have gridlock. Our government was designed to get stuck.
And that is a wrap—I have no idea where I need to go, but my phone will tell me. I will find out what it is when I get there.
Thank you for coming. Now I have your face and your name attached to this issue. Now the numbers tell a story about actual people and communities. Putting numbers into story form: that is ammunition.
E.A. Farro is a scientist and artist who spent several years working in politics. She founded The Nature Library art installation. Her publications have appeared in The Rumpus, The Kenyon Review, and The Normal School, among others. She is a recipient of a Minnesota State Art Board grant, an Excellence in Teaching Fellowship at the Madeline Island School of the Arts, and a Loft Literary Center Mentor Award. She teaches at the Loft Literary Center.
