On the first day of my summer vacation...

I have just entered my third year as a Florida resident and my second year teaching at a state funded educational institution. Because of these two facts I have decided that this would be my year to start getting involved with state and federal politics. My excitement about this new venture was so profound that I could hardly contain myself. The first step on my journey was to exercise my right as a citizen and write to Congress regarding some of the maladies that I have seen with our government. My first written correspondence outlined my disdain for the increased Florida minimum wage and summarized the negative impacts that such a price control can exude on our economy. I decided to run the letter through my letter and purge any evidence form my laptop lest I suffer the same fate as Jan Hall. After all, it could be said that my view on the minimum wage are discriminatory against the younger students in my class who are working at lower paying jobs. I love my job, so I didn’t want to see a suspension in my future. After some thinking I went through and eliminated all traces of the other letters I was going to send as well. I don’t think FEMA should send any relief money to Florida, but if I sent that letter I would be discriminating any of my students who have lived through a hurricane. My third letter surly would have sent me hurdling towards unemployment because its contents showed my outward resistance to post-hurricane price controls. That letter would have discriminated against ALL of my students. So I guess I’ll just give up on this who politics and free speech thing and stick to activities that won’t threaten my career like passive-aggressive mumbling in a dark room.

Adam Gifford
Economics Instructor
Lake-Sumter Community College