It doesn’t look like much now, but this is the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families office here in Sioux Falls.  My bosses at Planned Parenthood are, ironically, at a conference in DC all week so they sent me over to help with the CfHF.

I made it to South Dakota safe and sound.  I slept for like 10 hours and then immediately went to meet my bosses at Planned Parenthood.  So far, I have to say, SD is a pretty awesome place.  I feel a little like Tina Fey’s character in that episode of 30 Rock where she goes to visit Cleveland and just falls in love with it.  Things I love about Sioux Falls include: gas for $3.90 a gallon, nectarines, an organic food CoOp, Chili’s for lonely birthday margaritas, two big craft stores, people who look you in the eye, and backyard hammocks.  I know that so far I’ve meet a pretty unique subsection on Sioux Falls.  Everyone I’ve met is pro-choice, super friendly, engaged with politics, and patient.  I suspect that once I start canvassing this weekend I’ll meet a different portion of the city.

There is a part of me that still feels unsure about uprooting my life in DC to come out here for a month.  I wanted to believe that I was going to help, really help make a difference.  So far, though, I’ve been phone banking and setting up computer systems.  Of course, I recognize that these really are important things; if there are no computers nothing will happen with the campaign.  Still, I’m hoping that when my bosses return from DC the focus of my work here will change a little bit.

Jon has said this a number of times– once they know you know how to set up, fix, or “deal with” a computer that will become the center of your job.  He’s right, I need to get better about saying “I dunno” to computer questions instead of just doing it because any one problem only ever takes like 10 min to fix.  I’ve tried to let my temporary boss at CfHF that I’d like to help her with the messaging but I wonder if I need to be more aggressive about it?  I’m terrible at being aggressive in the workplace.