"I don't even like Politics"
Written by: Lindsey Workman
Kind of an odd title for a blog for someone helping on a City Council campaign. Let me back up a little bit and tell you my story. My name is Lindsey, I’m currently a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte majoring in Communication. I am what you would call a non-traditional student. I’ve had some experiences, lived life, and now decided it’s finally time to finish that Bachelor’s degree (I’ll finally finish December 2017!).
I wasn’t ever interested in Politics. I felt like it was confusing, a little intimidating, and not something for me. I didn’t think my voice mattered, because who was even listening? I recently took a class at UNCC that made me realize, what I think does matter, and as a result I needed to get involved (shout out to my Rhetorical Theory teacher, Kaye Lewis, if she’s reading this blog post). Through a series of events, I stumbled upon the opportunity to volunteer and help with communications and content development for a guy running for Charlotte City Council. Now to be completely honest, I had no idea what City Council did, had never voted in a local election, and felt completely inadequate. While the world of politics was very new to me, and I didn’t know much, one thing I do know about - is people.
I love meeting people, talking to people, and learning new things. I am often inspired by hearing people’s stories, and finding a way to connect with them. The first time I heard Parker speak, I was struck by his ability to make current issues, in what I considered to be the intimidating world of politics, something that I could understand. Parker’s passion towards the issues made me want to educate myself and learn more.
Passion will teach you a lot about a person. One thing I’ve learned about Parker in a short period of time, is that he loves to talk. He has a goal during this campaign of reaching out to anyone that will meet with him, on his journey to 10,000 cups of coffee. This may sound crazy to you, but he loves hearing from different people. He values the perspectives of everyone and especially of people that may not always agree with him. He loves to challenge himself in his personal life, business and most importantly on the issues in Charlotte. Complacency simply isn’t an option for Parker. When you get to know someone, you learn very quickly what they are passionate about and the things that drive them to get out of bed every morning. What keeps Parker going on the tough days? For Parker, there are 4 main things that drive his passion for life:
1. He loves his family fiercely; his wife and daughter are his world.
2. Working out (I’m still not entirely sure what F3 is, but I think it somehow involves nicknames…)
3. His job leading a sales team, seeing others succeed and developing the next sales leaders.
4. Making our city a better place for everyone by getting elected to Charlotte City Council
Politics isn’t as confusing as you might think. What it comes down to, is people connecting with people about things that matter to them directly on a daily basis. Things like… How can we bring more small business to Charlotte to help build our economy? How can we improve our transportation system so that we can all get places quicker? How can we make our city safer so that we don’t continue to see a rise in homicides? All these things are important, and by voting, you can choose leaders that share your vision.
If you don’t remember anything else I’ve said, remember this: you have a voice, you matter, get involved, educate yourself, and find out what City Council is all about! Check out the website (www.parkercains.com) and find out what Parker stands for, and how you can get involved. We can’t do this by ourselves, we need your help! There’s one thing I know for sure… I am a better person because of the time I’ve spent working on this campaign, and our city will be a better place if Parker Cains gets elected to Charlotte City Council.
Reach out, ask him to meet you for coffee. I can guarantee you…he won’t turn you down.