Q. It isn’t only Governors who wait until there is a crisis to finally move on fixing a problem, Legislators do too!! (Hecate July 19, 2005) I’m a business man, and I make the “policy decisions” here every day that determine what hours people work, how much they pay for their health care, how many sick days they have etc etc. My people are paid to spot potential problems and give me some possible solutions that include cost and benefits before the problem turns into a crisis. What is wrong with these fellows? My wife is involved in a statewide organization that has been trying to pass a law that would forbid public schools from using toxic cleaning fluids—the ones with warning labels all over them. In our children’s school an untrained janitor spilled a pail of undiluted poisonous stuff on the gym floor and they closed the gym for a day. Later my wife found out that they brought in a special company to clean it up – complete with people with white jumpsuits and gasmasks. The committee chair responded told the group testifying that “these things happen” and they can’t legislate on one incident. What do we have to do, drag some asthmatic kids and have them drop their used inhalers in a pile outside the state capital?
A. Good idea!! Unlike the private sector, public policy makers do not have the luxury of having enough paid staff to spot every potential problem in their bailiwick, whether it’s the environment or transportation or foster care. They depend on large part on organized neighborhood volunteers, statewide special interest groups and paid lobbyists from various business interests to bring them problems and suggest effective affordable solutions. Documenting the statewide impact of a potential problem is always an important first step. So, organizing some parents of asthmatic kids from across the state to bring some used inhalers into the state house is a good way to spread your personal outrage around a little and create your own little crisis that might just prompt some movement from the legislature. By the way what happened to the janitor? Does s/he belong to a union? Was there some violation of occupational health and safety laws and regulations?
Who is Hecate?
Hecate is a Greek Goddess who served as a guide and coach at the crossroads of Hades, where after crossing the River Styx, Greek souls found themselves facing three choices: the Elysian Fields, abode of the great and heroic; the Fields of Asphodel, for all who had led a blameless but ordinary life; or to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment for criminals.
Hecate's best known role in Greek mythology was guiding Persephone, the goddess of spring, on her annual journeys between Hades and Earth. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hecate is portrayed as a nurturing and protective guide for Persephone on those annual journeys.
