I was in the retail car business (car dealerships) for 25 years from 1978-2003. I held various positions during that time starting in accounting and finance, since I am a CPA. That said, I always understood we were in a sales business. There was a saying, old but true, that “nothing happens until you sell a car”. You can’t service it, finance it, sell parts for it or anything else until you sell it.

You’ve been trapped before. Certainly, I have. I don’t mean physically trapped as lost in a maze or caught in barbed wire or something. I mean you are in a social, economic or vocational position wherein your options are now limited, and none of them are very good. You are trapped.

I am a nerd. I am not ashamed of that but even if I were, there is no denying it. I actually wore a pocket protector in high school, which pocket contained multiple-colored pencils, a small protractor, and a small slide rule. Of course, my main slide rule (which I still have) hung from my belt like a sword. Didn’t yours?

When one is a Member of Congress, you sign a lot of things. Letters responding to constituent requests; Letters asking for campaign contributions; thank you letters; constituent newsletters and all manner of things not to mention the electronic communications that probably dominate correspondence today.