Delaware politicians can't top free reflectors

While in college – and even for a bit after graduating – I worked at a largish liquor store in Brandywine Hundred. Bigger than your corner six-pack-and-a-fifth store but not as big as the superstores.

In my time working there, I got used to seeing certain elected officials come in for bottles of wine on Friday nights. Sometimes on Saturday mornings they'd come in to restock their bars with bourbon or vodka and sample some wine at our tasting.

"Hey, isn't that so and so?" I would ask a co-worker. "Yep. Comes here all the time," would be the answer back to me. Then he listed a number of others who shopped at our store.

That's the thing about Delaware – you can't escape the politicians. They show up everywhere simply because this is Delaware. There are only so many places they can show up.

Other states aren't as lucky – or unlucky, depending on how you look at it – to have that kind of access to their elected officials. Here in the First State, we probably take getting a chance to talk to our elected officials for granted.

A good example of that is what happened to Jim Westhoff, a community relations officer with the Delaware Department of Transportation, last week as he was working at the DelDOT booth at the state fair.

Earlier in the week, he and others at the booth had been giving away reflectors that flash and had a hook.

"They are great for attaching to kids' bicycles and book bags," Westhoff said.

But then they ran out of the free reflectors. This is how Westhoff described what happened next:

I was standing in front of our table, chatting with Congressman John Carney, when a woman came up to me, ignored Congressman Carney and asked me, "Excuse me, do you all have any more of those blinking reflectors?"

I said, "No, I'm afraid we ran out of them a few days ago. But instead, here is your United States Congressman, John Carney, if you want to ask him a question."

The woman glanced at Carney for maybe a second, quickly said, "Oh hey, John," then immediately turned to me again, "So when do you think you will get more of those reflectors?"

Delaware.

You can see and talk to a politician any old day. But it's not that often you can get free blinking reflectors to give your kids.

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