With the passing of Senator Kennedy, much talk abounds regarding who will carry the health-care reform torch. It does appear that bi-partisanship is but a pipe dream concerning this important national issue and that some other form of mediation will be needed in order to achieve any workable and widely-acceptable solution.
I believe that our nation has overlooked a tremendous influence group - one that far surpasses the most powerful lobby Washington D.C. has to offer..................
Grandchildren
Imagine the scenario if every politician's grandchild looked into Grandpa's or Grandma's eyes, their own eyes downcast, coupled with a slightly forlorn facial expression and with a hint of vocal pathos, said, "Grandma/pa, could you please play nicely with the other politicians and help Mommy and Daddy get health insurance so all of us can be healthy?" Why, Washington D.C. pols would be stepping all over each other in their rush to support the national health-care reform initiative.
We cannot underestimate the powerful influence grandchildren have upon their grandparents.
Case in point: TLV and his little sister are coming for a short visit, accompanied by their parents. This twenty-four hour stay has inspired me to accomplish culinary feats here-to-fore never imaginable.
Late yesterday afternoon, wanting to have freshly-baked cookies ready for TLV and his parents, I had settled on one type of cookie, until TLV, in a Skype session, asked for red/green cookies. From that moment on, inspiration flowed and finally resulted in a cornucopia of treats, sure to please his palate. He will have scratch blueberry muffins to savor, Monster cookies to devour, and, of course, red/green cookies to munch on. And to think that, initially, I had decided to prepare just ONE kind of cookie.
Let's extrapolate my grandchild-inspired flurry of activity to Capitol Hill. I am certain that grandchildren are the super-weapon of the future and that a request by a grandchild could be the impetus for wide-ranging reforms in many arenas. I am positive that the flinty-eyed, cynical, egotistical, self-serving politicians could be brought to a common solution by simply looking into the eyes of their grandchildren and/or hearing their voices.
It works on me. What do you think?
Come on over. The blueberry muffins are waiting.
Ancora imparo
