Life in Washington

Flowers are Helpful
 Anna returned home President's Day weekend for a visit.  She came home to dog sit Benny as her parents had plans to go to Ohio to visit Grandma and Grandpa for their 52nd wedding anniversary.  After a delayed train on Valentine's morning, she arrived with a very red hair color (matching the Valentine's Day theme).  There are no photos due to other distractions over the weekend (details in a moment).  Like many things, the best laid plans do not always materialize.

It was a memorable Valentine's Day for all the wrong reasons for Theresa.  Rather than a trip to Ohio, she canceled to go to the office for what is now known as the Federal Valentine's Day massacre, the firing of thousands of Federal employees who were in their 1-year probationary period.  Theresa lost 8 staff members (80 for her agency) - all new, talented employees.  It has truly been a challenging time to work as a federal employee.  Despite all of the chaos, Theresa noted a few things to Anna about the current situation:

  • During times of crisis there is also the opportunity to reconnect with people and provide support (Theresa has heard from countless former colleagues and longtime friends who work for the Federal government to commiserate with and provide support).
  • A note or thoughtful gestures goes a long way (Theresa received some flowers from a former employee and his wife along with a "thank you for your service" note).
  • Nothing good comes from doom scrolling...except making you feel worse.
  • We all have a role to play in democracy and can't wait for someone else or the "they" to fix things.
  • Anna's generation needs to pay attention and get involved.  They are going to need to clean up this mess.

The weekend ended with Anna realizing that President's Day was not actually a holiday for VCU students.  Alas, she missed her Monday classes.  The best laid plans....





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