Whenever Catilin was deciding on the internship she should apply to in Washington, D.C., I was concerned about who she would work for. Although she was offered internships with a couple of senators, I felt that those internships would be "too political" for her to accept. Little did I know that EVERYTHING IN WASHINGTON, D.C. IS "POLITICAL"!
After her dinner the week before and the viewing of The State of the Union Address, Caitlin began her internship. And THAT is when she informed me that they expected her to go to Capitol Hill to represent their company...WHAT?! OH MY GOSH...This was VERY disturbing on MANY different levels. I inquired as to WHAT issues she would be representing them on and if she would actually have to speak. She giggled nonchalantly as she answered, "I don't know...the CEO just told me that he would tell me what to do when I got there." Now THAT concerned me even more...Elle going to Capitol Hill, representing her company on some issue that she knew absolutely nothing about. While she was taking this lightly (youth speaking...), I was having a bit of a stress attack (experience speaking...). OK, I decided that she would most likely survive it (hopefully...) and I needed to take the advice of one of my fitness instructors..."Head to toe...just let it go". I was doing pretty good the next day...until I got the text message from her: "My company is having me research the Health Care Reform Bill and THAT is the issue they want me to represent the company on." Can I just say, HOLY CRAP!!! This was more than VERY disturbing on MANY different levels...let me explain.
Many people from all walks of life have their personal opinions regarding the national Health Care Reform Bill, and everyone is entitled to that opinion. Our family is not for it and here are just a few of the reasons why: We are small business owners, who also have interests in a couple of health care facilities, Justin has a master's degree in Health and Hospital Administration, David is a third year medical school student and Ryan is a first year dental school student...Oh, and Caitlin is also dating a guy who is in medical school as well. So, do you NOW see the little conflict of interest going on here? It appeared that our little darling was stuck right between the proverbial "rock and a hard place". How does one break this news to the rest of the family? First, I told Robby, who actually took the news better than I thought he would. His advice was to "Do your job; politicians and lobbyist do things they don't believe in every day." WOW! I started to put my hand on his head to see if he had a fever; this was definitely NOT the reaction I had expected...THAT came from Ryan. Besides referring to her as a "traitor", he indicated that he "Hoped she not only went to Capitol Hill,but that they put her on television, wearing a little pink suit and allowed her to open her mouth, so that all the country could see how ridiculous the Health Care Reform Bill really was...having Elle speak about it and all". I felt that was a little harsh and told him so, but you know siblings...they don't hold anything back. So, Elle continued to research the Bill, while quite frequently texting me questions concerning the issue. I'm not going to lie...this had me a little (OK...a LOT) worried.
A couple of days later, Caitlin called to tell me that her supervisor asked how she liked researching the Health Care Reform Bill. She replied, "Well, to be honest with you, I'm not really all that crazy about public policy." "GREAT!", her supervisor replied. She explained that most interns really loved researching public policy issues, but she had the "Perfect" job for her instead. She would now be their Events Coordinator, working on planning their annual convention, writing articles for their publications and creating their yearly calendar. Now, THAT sounded more like a job for Elle! She was SO EXCITED ( and I was SO relieved...) and loves what she is doing now. I asked if that meant that she would now not be required to go to Capitol Hill...She wasn't sure, but certainly hoped not! However, keep your eye out while viewing the national news channels for a cute little blonde...in a hot pink outfit...who states, "What IS public policy anyway?!"
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