A Tuppence a Day

tuppence (definition) - a bronze coin of the United Kingdom equal to two pennies

Recently, people have been asking me how I would fix Washington.  My firm belief remains that the present Members who all shared in creating this dysfunction cannot solve or fix the problems.  In other words, the elected officials who made the problems can't obtain viable solutions to them.  Don't buy into someone's campaign who says that since they are now in charge of a committee or subcommittee, then things will get done.  Someone who is part of the problem is only concerned with being in charge of it and not actually fixing it, but I digress.  

I try and live my life with one foot in the past and one foot in the future when faced with problem solving.  To answer the question posed to me above, I look to the past.  In this instance, I go back to the years 1965-1966 for a possible answer...

...nearly every Friday afternoon in the last two years of Walt Disney's life, he would stop by the studio office of the Sherman brothers, two of his key songwriters.  As the story goes, Walt would enter the room and say, "Richard, play the song."  Without hesitation, Richard Sherman and his brother would sing the first song that they wrote for the movie Mary Poppins called "Feed the Birds".

As the first notes began to be played, Walt Disney would walk over to the studio window and gaze outside, all the while listening to the song.  In my mind, I can picture the scene as these words were sung:   

"Come feed the little birds, show them you care
And you'll be glad if you do
Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare
All it takes is tuppence from you"

As the song ended, Walt would walk past the piano and on his way to the door, he would say, "that's what it's all about".  What Walt was saying to the Sherman boys is that it doesn't take much, sometimes just a penny or two, to do an act of kindness...

In order to fix Washington, which feeds itself on name calling from the left, right, the progressives and Tea Party, we must first focus on ourselves.  Specifically, we as individuals must learn to be kind to one another.  Instead of posting derogatory words against the President on Facebook or sending emails ridiculing Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, first start by doing an act of kindness, like the song suggests above.  Your calm demeanor and pleasant smiles at strangers, which doesn't even cost a penny, will have a lasting affect.  Maybe not overnight, but as kindness towards one another spreads, the citizenry will become apt to demand and begin honest, solution-oriented dialogues.  Most importantly, those Facebook posts and emails will subside due to lack of fuel.

- BELIEVE that kindness begins with you
- ACT by doing a simple act of kindness each day, such as a warm smile or opening the door for someone
- SERVE others just as Christ served us

Washington, DC at the present is polluted with many factions that have their sole purpose of gaining or remaining in power.  Until we elect new leaders that want to be kind toward each other and who truly want to solve problems in order to help "We the People", we will continue in our present state.  Since the new leaders come from the people, the people must be kind.  And who makes up the people?  - You.

So the next time you reach in your pocket and feel a penny or two, remember these words: "come feed the little birds, show them you care...all it takes is tuppence from you."

And if I'm wrong about beginning to fix Washington this way, at least people may smile at you more, which isn't all bad.