WE THE PEOPLE

by Ann
I am late for work, it is snowing, and I’m stuck behind a plow truck that keeps spitting snow on  my windshield.  Rats.  I am never going to get to court on time.  I curse my job.  I curse the weather.  I curse my clients. I curse the system and the indignity of it all.  I resent the struggle to get to the courthouse and the fact that I have to rush to an unforgiving public where I will work myself to an agonizing degree of exhaustion and it still won‘t be enough. I will work tirelessly and explain the same thing over and over and over. I will hear the phrase, “But I have rights!“ I will hear this from too many people who have no idea what those rights are. 
Maybe I will just quit and start that pet grooming, no kill shelter that I dream about.
And as my car slightly fishtails as I go to make a right I see him. 
A man on the corner.  He’s holding one of those billboards for taxes and he’s dressed in a foam statue of liberty costume. It is at least 4 degrees outside and the wind chill makes it feel like less than 10.  He walks back and forth with his sign.  And to him and to many motorists, the statue of liberty is just a fancy landmark in a fancy city.  Today, for this man, it is just a costume.  And for many, taxes are just an inexplicable thing that we have to deal with.  Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are just words.  And the courthouse is just a non-descript building a few blocks away.  And it doesn’t mean much to anyone.
But it does to me,  and with that I control my car enough to get back in my lane.  I hurry to the parking garage and walk with a renewed sense of urgency.
I HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!