128th Ohio House of Representatives Resolution #132
There’s no particularly modest way of saying this, so I’ll just blurt it out. The Ohio House of Representatives presented me with a resolution of recognition on November 18th.
Here’s the story. Last May I received an award from a national trade organization to which the agency I work for belongs. That sort of recognition is very gratifying, to put it lightly. I didn’t mention it here because I said in my very first post that I wasn’t going to discuss my career (except cartooning, of course). The next development is too much on a personal level not to include here. Here's the next point: my job is political in nature. I don't mean political patronage, but it does involve working with local and state elected officials. If Ohio legislators didn’t know who I was, I wouldn’t be doing my job. One of our legislators heard of my award, and decided to second it. So you could say the House resolution is an award for getting an award - but the point is who it comes from.
John accompanied me as photographer (“nothing’s real till you do the PR”). I envisioned the presentation like something on C-Span: the Representative giving me the award on the dais, and three or four scattered Members in the chamber not particularly paying attention. But no: it was at the beginning of a day’s session, with a full chamber. I was even more surprised when Representative Brown called the rest of the NW Ohio delegation up to the dais. The presentation was made with me surrounded by the Speaker and five Members. I was ready with a three-sentence speech, thanking everybody.
In conclusion … being appreciated is wonderfully gratifying, as I’ve already said. In practical terms, it means:
- I’m not likely to get fired. Not unless I screw up in a Really Big Way (not impossible - I’ve seen it happen to others)
- Maybe my staff will listen to me now. Maybe.
- It’ll look great in my resume. Let me clarify that: the program I run depends on soft money. We chase grants all the time. A standard part of a grant proposal is the c.v. Message to funding agencies: “yes, this guy is worth funding.”
- Of course the recognition is not all about me. It’s also recognition of the agency I work for, and all the people and other agencies we partner with. That was about half of my thank-you speech, but it’s not just words.
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