My Letters to Every Senator (Part 2)

So, yes. I actually did it. I sent a letter to every US Senator’s D.C. Office, and they likely arrived yesterday or today, unless the weather held them back, which is also a possibility. Regardless, here are my take-aways from this experience:

1. The Senate is surprisingly more diverse than I thought. I did not expect there to be many females in the Senate, and there certainly isn’t an equal amount of men and women, but there are more women than I expected. Wikipedia tells me the number is currently 22, almost 1 out of 4. And a lot of them have names starting with T and M.

2. I will forever remember the ZIP Code of the Capitol and its office buildings, being 20510.

3. If you ever wish to send a letter to every US Senator, please plan your time better than I did. I did everything, aside from typing and printing, within 3 1/2 on a Sunday, and I was rushing it and therefore made mistakes. My hand was awfully cramped and by the end of it, I wished I had split the tasks of signing the letters and addressing the envelopes. I also found out folding letters works some muscle in your arms. And my left arm felt more like gelatin than my right, and I’m right-handed. Who knew 100 letters could cause achey muscles?

4. For some reason, I find it hilarious that Bernie Sanders’ real name is Bernard.

5. I learned, above all else, how to analyze these 100 people, and try and appeal to this elite group, despite them seeming so far away, but physically and emotionally. (To put it into perspective, on average, these people represent about 3.26 million people each. Writing to each and all of them, I could use the average, and I lose the advantage of living in a less populous state, which would normally increase the likelihood of my letter being read.)
Trying to appeal to all of them, I had to put my own political views aside, despite having to voice my political views. I had to use both Ethos and Logos (modes of appeal, being ethical and logical), but most importantly, Pathos (emotional). While I’m not going to include the contents of the letter here, I will admit it was regarding gun laws, but included measures members of both parties have expressed interest in pursuing.

All in all, I still believe it is important to remember one thing: despite what you may think about any or all of our senators, they are people, too, deep down. So even though it may be tough, you can, at the very least, try to appeal to them. And if all else fails, try, try again.

Photos From this ExperiEnce