On October 31 last year, my parents’ doorbell rang. This isn’t surprising, it was Halloween. But this particular time it wasn’t a trick or treater…at least, not the traditional type…but it was the son of my mother’s late best friend. They hadn’t seen him for years, but he’d stopped by to let them know he’s running for U.S. Congress. He stayed a couple of hours, through the trick or treaters, and told my parents some of his views and his agenda. For the sake of this blog, we’ll call him The Candidate. He had a list of houses his party recommended he particularly visit in this neighborhood. My parents were on the list, which is was odd, because his party affiliation does not match my parents’. Maybe he had them added since he knew they lived in that neighborhood? I don’t know.
My parents haven’t heard from The Candidate since then.
A couple of days ago, Mom called The Candidate’s father, which she does a few times a year. The dad has re-married and lives in another state now, but he stays in touch with my parents. Mom asked how The Candidate is doing and learned that he is still canvasing door-to-door to get his name out. One would assume, his party still gives him a list for each neighborhood he visits.
Turns out The Candidate was not well-informed about one doorbell he rang. A woman answered the door and he said, "Hello, I’m <fill in his name> and I’m running for U.S. Congress in Illinois’ ## district."
The woman responded: "Hello. I’m the incumbent."
Oops! I think his party should have alerted him about that address!