Rural Missouri - November 2020 - 5

MISSOURI
RURAL

RM | PERSPECTIVES

Promises, promises

Volume 73 | NOVEMBER 2020 | Number 11
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by Caleb Jones
cjones@amec.coop

his time of year, we
hear lots of promises from those seeking ofﬁce. Promises
have been part and parcel
of politics since the birth
of this republic. Those
oaths have ranged from
a chicken in every pot to
Harry Truman's assurance
that "the buck stops here."
Speaking of promises, I
made a promise to my son,
Max, that when he lost his
ﬁrst tooth he could leave
it under his pillow and the
tooth fairy would swap
him cold hard cash for the
missing tooth. So far, the
Sometimes a lost tooth can get in the way of a promise.
tooth fairy has been plenty generous around our
way of the best intentions. Like Max,
house. However, this time Max lost his
we have to have faith when we cast
tooth, then he really LOST his tooth.
our ballots and understanding when
I'm not a politician - at least not
the best-laid plans go awry.
anymore - but I understand that
Your electric co-op is like that.
sometimes promises are hard to keep.
When you signed up for service, your
In Max's case that valuable tooth was
co-op promised to serve you reliable,
missing, and the Jones household
affordable electricity.
didn't have a contingency plan for
Thankfully, co-ops take this promthis tragedy. Max was worried that
ise pretty seriously. Day in, day out
the tooth fairy would pass him by.
your cooperative is working hard
I told Max to write a letter with his
making sure that the electricity that
own promise that he truly did lose the
supplies your house, farm or grain bin
tooth.
is there when you need it and at the
"Will that work?" he asked. I told
lowest possible price.
him sometimes you just have to
When I hear of the rolling blackouts
believe.
on the West Coast or electric bills that
Apparently, Max's testimony was
are higher than the mortgage in some
good enough for the tooth fairy, who
cities, it makes me realize how well
delivered the goods.
co-ops are at keeping that pledge of
By the time you read this the elecreliable, affordable electricity.
tion will have taken place and a lot of
But sometimes a big storm - or a
men and women will be tasked with
tiny squirrel - causes an outage.
making good on their campaign promWhen that happens, I will make you a
ises. Some will achieve the results
promise of my own: They will ﬁx it as
they promised in their campaign ads.
soon as safely possible. You can take
Others will discover it's a lot easier to
that to the ballot box.
promise something than to deliver on
that promise.
Jones is the executive vice presIt's not that these politicians didn't
ident and CEO of the Association of
have good intentions. It's just that
Missouri Electric Cooperatives and a
sometimes events out of their control
member of Boone Electric Co-op.
- like Max's lost tooth - get in the
NOVEMBER 2020 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP

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Rural Missouri - November 2020

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