207 days to go

     Some years back, I had a wild idea that I should run for office. I wanted to make a difference.  Our town needed a council member and I thought I was the man for job.  I got the needed signatures to qualify and then walked door to door, trying to convince my neighbors to vote for me.  I talked up a storm with neighbors I had only seen in passing.  Some people agreed with what I stood for and others did not. And many promised me they were going to vote for me.
      After the election was over I was told that there was a bigger than usual turnout for the election. And that more people came out to vote for this election than any other election in the last ten years. I was running against someone who had history with the community and he had lived in University Park many years more than I had.  When all was said and done, I had lost, miserably. And they had not voted for me.  But I did receive around 35 votes. The winner got several hundred.
     But still in my little way, I had made a difference.  I got more people out of their houses to vote for my opponent.  If I had not been running, he would have won by default.
     I sometimes have thoughts now that I have not made a big enough difference. But then I think of what I have done and I change my mind.  When I was younger,  I was a Red Cross Volunteer.  I volunteered so much  I was given an award from Governor Agnew for being one of a few outstanding volunteers in Montgomery County.  Many years later,  I volunteered with a fire department in Montgomery County. I volunteered on weeknights and the weekends.
     One day, two parents arrived at the station with a police escort and their child covered in blood soaked sheets. As we loaded the child into the ambulance, my EMT said, "Art, make this ambulance fly!"
     I was the ambulance driver that day. I was happy it was a Sunday because there were not many people on the road.  As soon as I got us to the main drag, I punched the gas pedal and did not let up until we were approaching the exit.  I may have taken the exit at a bit higher speed than recommended for an emergency vehicle but I was in control all the way to the hospital.  When I pulled up to the Emergency Room door, the E.R staff was waiting and had pulled the kid and the stretcher out of the back before I had turned off the ignition.
     As my EMT and I were changing the sheets on the stretcher, the doctor in blood splattered scrubs came out and said, "You guys saved this kid's life. Good work!"
     Needless to say, I was on cloud nine for the rest of the day and several days afterwards because I had made a difference and saved a life.
     I have worked at Penn Camera for over 24 years as an inside salesman. My customers call me because they know that I will find them solutions to their problems. When faced with finding a solution for my customers, I do not give up easily.  I look at their problems and  if I can, I find them several solutions. If I was a customer looking for something, I would want a salesman to treat me the way I treat my customers.  I don't try to force something down my customer's throats, the way other companies do. I would go hungry as a commission salesman.
     Looking back at what I have done, I can honestly say, I have made a difference.