Local tea partiers should expect limited success

From San Francisco to the eastern seaboard, concerned citizens gathered, some holding signs, to let their voices be heard.  They rallied in Topeka.  They rallied in Muskegon.  They rallied in D.C..  They rallied in Boston where angry settlers once revolted over heavy-handed British interference by dumping tea into that now-famous harbor.

Whatever you think of the Tea Party phenomenon, there is one truth that’s undeniable – from the protesters to the protesters-of-the-protesters, what we’re seeing is average Americans excerising one of their most basic constitutional rights, the freedom of speech. 

However. 

It’s hard as a parent to get cranked up about such constituent exercise of this constitutional right when it’s the offspring that are revolting.  I can’t speak for the little non-voters in your district, but over here, these guys can stage a Tea Party.  And I mean at the drop of a hat.

They took the opportunity to throw a few over spring break.  Labor issues took center stage.  What part of the ‘break’ in ‘spring break’ didn’t I understand, they wondered aloud. 

“You get in there and fight those dust bunnies,” I retorted, pointing toward their rooms.  “You can do it.  Go!  Fight!  Win!”  Looking disgruntled, they finally dropped their hand-lettered signs and got to work.

In a remarkable show of unity, they lobbied unceasingly for their father to bring the trampoline out of winter storage and to help them set it up. 

I joined them.  “Please, please, please.  I have six legs here.  Six!  All by myself!  All week while you’re at work!  Wouldn’t you want their legs to have something to do if it was you?  Or maybe you could take their legs to the office…”

Before the week was out, the trampoline was up and they were jumping.

Yes, some very good things can happen when citizens join together and let their voices be heard.  The local citizenry (specifically, those that live on our 3 acres), however, should not expect to have such success with the next sit-in demonstration over that stack of laundry they’re supposed to be folding.  It’s not the British that are coming; it’s Mr. Schrock.