I cannot believe it’s the very last day before this year’s election!
Tools to connect - a list of my neighbors, a stack of brochures, some sticky notes and a pen
About six weeks ago, on a rainy Friday afternoon, I started my campaign from my own street 53rd Avenue, which also happens to be the east-most street in District 1.
Since then, I have crisscrossed the district from my street to the farthest west on Route 1, from Sunnyside in the north to Cherokee St. in the south.
4000 neighbors in over 2000 houses: that is the size I had to cover over this period. It was a huge opportunity to connect with so many neighbors in such a short period.
The tools I used to connect to my neighbors were rather simple. The county board of election gave me a list of my neighbors. I also used a stack of brochures as well as sticky notes and a pen that I used when I did not find them at their houses.
Throughout the campaign, I tried to knock and talk to each one of these neighbors. I knocked on their doors, even after seeing two other signs, frankly to their surprises.
Over this period, I met many new neighbors, some of whom I met online but never in person. Many of them I had never met before.
They included both the young and old, students and long-time residents, Caucasians, African-Americans, Latinos, Indians, Filipinos, you name them.
Yesterday, I met one long-time neighbor, who gave me an interesting piece of advice: “Fazlul, I know how you feel now, you’ve done all you could do, so try to be calm on Tuesday.”
I know what she means; its the uncertainty of the election results she was referring to.
I smiled to myself. I know I’ve every reason to be optimistic about the outcome, but at the same time, her advice made me pause and think, “Should serving this community be dependent on tomorrow’s election outcome, really?”
I reassured myself – never mind, it will be just like another day tomorrow. So, go relax, and keep smiling!