The dreaded first week of school is here. By now you’re probably sick and tired of the mandatory furlough speech given by distraught professors who must see their work hours shrink and their workloads grow.
Fortunately, this is my last fall at Cal State Long Beach. That is, if everything goes according to plan and I manage to walk by May. But then again, plans change.
Congresswomen Laura Richardson and Linda Sanchez should know a little bit about changing plans. The two politicians were no-shows at a health care and immigration forum on Monday that was put together by the Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization at St. Anthony’s Church in downtown Long Beach.
Long Beach residents filled up the church’s stuffy hall, eager to hear the congresswomen’s positions on health care and immigration and what new ideas they were bringing to the table. Because of the kind of media hype Town Hall meetings across the country have been getting during the past weeks, both women were told that this was going to be a forum with set questions and short testimonials.
But the heart-wrenching testimonials fell on political deaf ears.
A Cambodian woman could barely hold her tears when she told the audience about her 12-year experience in a refugee camp caused by the long process of attaining refugee status in this country.
Another woman told the story of a teenage girl’s experience with health care and how her family could barely get by due to high cost of her father’s illness. The speakers directed their testimonials to two empty chairs on the stage that were supposed to be occupied by the congresswomen’s representatives.
Sanchez’s office pulled out a couple of days before the forum, saying that she wouldn’t be able to attend. Richardson’s office actually confirmed that both Eric Boyd, her district manager, and Terry Valdez, her case manager, would be there. They were also no-shows.
Despite the fact that there was a big possibility they wouldn’t be there, community members hoped at least one politician would show up.
The Q & A part of the forum seemed like a cruel joke, but questions were still asked.
This was a bluntly disrespectful move from both congresswomen, who left the residents with more questions than answers.
Both congresswomen’s offices had been e-mailed various questions regarding health care and immigration to which they hadn’t replied by Monday. I understand that politicians have extremely busy schedules, but a reply to these questions would have been nice.
Then again, who am I to judge? I change plans all the time. Or whatever.