In reflecting on not taking advantage of what might have been my only opportunity to directly tell a key government official everything on my mind, I couldn’t help but think about a project my friend Laura is working on. 
Lovelorn Poets is a really quirky blog that highlights the best poetry and messages posted to Craigslist Missed Connections. Laura spends a crazy amount of time digging through thousands of posts from all over the US to find ones that deserve more than being lost in the Craigslist archives. In Laura’s words:
Every Monday through Friday Lovelorn Poets spotlights three of our favorite Missed Connections including poetry (with weekly haiku specials!), love letters, messages of regret, thank you notes, and other random effluvia. No more having to scan through hundreds of missed connections just to find the crazy, entertaining, or romantic ones. We find the bottles that have washed up on the shore and deliver their messages to the world. In addition to publishing the poems of our Lovelorn Poets, we also provide musical soundtracks and visual images to enhance your reading experience.
It’s a really neat idea and I’d like to encourage everyone to check it out by clicking here. (This is a little bit self serving, too, because I did all the technical work for the site and I’m pretty pleased with it.)
So I got to thinking, what should I have said to Vice President Biden? If I wrote him a missed connection, what would it say? There’s the obvious that I mentioned yesterday, that I should have thanked him for all the hard work he does. But maybe I should have taken a moment to tell him how I feel about the food safety bill or how incredibly frustrating it is to have thousands of dollars in student loans. Or I could have taken the opportunity to tell him about my business dreams, seeing as he’s in charge of implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and would he like to help me with financing? I’m sure he would have liked that while shopping downtown on his Thanksgiving vacation.
If you met the vice president, what would you say?
Megan
The student loan issue is hot in medical schools right now. Since we’ve had to succumb to the “Direct Lending” program, there is no competition. Thus we are stuck with an interest rate of 6.8% (!!!) without any options otherwise. Not only this, but there is no longer deferment if you are in residency – you must enter forbearance if you wish to postpone your loan payments. And they are pushing for “income based repayment” which is a total waste of money.
Amber
MeganWe’re paying so much each month that we could be paying for two more cars…or an apartment or something. It’s painful. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you with all that schooling. Sometimes, I just think our country is sad…
Laura Zurowski
Thanks for the mention Amber! If I happen to see any poems or messages posted to the Cape Cod Missed Connections forum titled, “What I Should Have Said to Our Vice President” I’ll know that it’s from you! 🙂