Everything isn't about politics

Shortly after I ran for Alderman, in 1983, a proposal was made to expand the grocery store across the street of my home. As an interested neighbor, I attended the public meeting where details were shared.

As soon as I walked in, precinct captains stationed in the room saw me and looked desperately at each other, wondering what to do. They had brought in residents who would support the proposal and worried that I had something political planned to subvert their efforts.

I didn’t. And I favored the proposal, even though it was obvious that my opponent (the incumbent Alderman) had stacked the meeting in its favor.

They didn’t understand that not everything is about politics. I simply thought that a bigger grocery store was a good thing.