Dear editor,
I greatly appreciated Tracy Keagles article about the importance of volunteers.
It is so true. Where would we be without the scores of people who volunteer and give of themselves freely to our community: the hospital board, the city council, the school board, the college board, the library board, the Bowlus Commission, the Farm City Days committee, the various and many church boards, ICT board, Humanity House, Friends of the Bowlus, Sunday Soups, the service clubs and their boards, and the many, many others that I missed.
I want to personally say thank you to all of these people. They give, and we need to be grateful.
Will we always agree with everything they do?
No, because we are all individuals and have our own ideas, but we also need to remember that we are all human beings who share this community we call home.
We may not always agree, and that is OK, but the way we disagree needs to be consistent with the fact that we are all humans and neighbors, and we deserve each others respect and kindness.
There is never a valid reason to be rude or to personally attack an individual. We can politely share our views and ideas and the reasons for those, and politely allow others the same right being willing to listen with an open mind.
We can work to find common ground, or we may have to agree to disagree, and then ultimately acknowledge that since they are choosing to serve in that position, that the final decision is up to them.
We have to also acknowledge that for public servants, there are often things we the public are not privy to, and because of various laws, personnel issues, and such, they are not able to share every detail behind their decisions.
Trust is involved.
If we feel that trust has been violated, we have the option, because of the great country we live in, to vote and have a say, or run or volunteer for that office or board or committee ourselves.
We can choose to be the volunteer if we feel so moved, and then we can experience what being on the other side of the table feels like speaking from personal experience, it is often a lonely, thankless, and hot seat that requires a lot of time and effort.
So, again, I want to thank those who serve us. They give without any monetary reward or praise and often with great criticism.
Let us be mindful of that. Let us be mindful of our common ground and our common causes life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness.
