The society we humans have created is an interesting one. We have our set of rules and those rules were put in place by our fellow citizens. When you know the people in charge you have some influence on them in some way or another. I think Cassie and I have lived in the Greeley area long enough to realize that sometimes (in fact, oftentimes) it’s not what you know, but who you know.
It’s true with the Chicken issue because we know how the local law system works and who is in charge of it. We approached the Greeley city council about our ticket and the problem just….went away. I don’t think a lot of people know how it works and are frustrated constantly (hint: always go to the top first, the worker bees at the bottom represent the bureaucracy and often have their hands tied and can’t really help you unless told to by those at the top).
We had another example happen tonight. We have a rental in Evans and some friends of ours live there. Everything has worked out great and has really been a pleasure. Well tonight I got a call from them and apparently the water had been shut off (we pay water). I was kind of shocked but I remembered that we had a letter from the utility company a few months ago that said they had a SNAFU with their new water billing system. We had followed the instructions they sent to us but apparently it didn’t work.
Of course it was after hours (about 6pm) and nobody who could do anything was at work. We thought we were going to have to wait until 8am tomorrow to do anything about it. I tried calling everyone I could think of. I even called the lady at home who works in the billing department that sent us the letter. Her husband informed me she was at a meeting. I was about to give up.
Then I remembered the guy who did a house inspection for us was on the city council in Evans. I thought it was a long shot, but worth a try. I called him and he was very receptive to my issue. Apparently the utility company messed his bill up too! He called the city manager and the water was back on in less than an hour. Amazing. I am truly thankful for his assistance in the matter (thanks Tom Hamblen!). You don’t realize how important water is until you try to turn the faucet on and nothing comes out!
If you know who to call and who can make a difference it can sure help. I think our elected officials helping out the people is exactly what they should be doing. It’s nice to see on a local level that it still works like that (sometimes). Of course they also have an opportunity to help out those that aren’t doing what is best for the people. It can really go both ways. Either way, squeaky wheel gets the grease. So don’t be afraid to squeak a little to the right people!
