Civic duty doesn’t stop at ballot

I find myself thinking a lot about money lately.

With good reason, I suppose, since I recently managed to forge my way over another phase of adulthood and move into an apartment. On top of the fact my car needs two new tires and my school loans aren’t going away any time soon, now there’s the additional task of budgeting for rent.

Can someone kindly remind me why I wanted to be a “big kid” again?

Now, before I’m mistaken for ranting, I want to admit I’ve actually enjoyed a few challenges of navigating my own way to becoming financially responsible. And although I cannot imagine I ever will be excited about paying bills, there are continually more things to learn — like if I managed to make at least one good stock pick — and a list of other things to keep me from dwelling too much on finances.

A part of that is because I have parents who wanted me to understand from an early age that I needed to save money. My sisters and brother received the same courtesy — individual bank accounts to be managed over the course of our childhood. No, these weren’t trust funds. I was there when the account was opened with my money. My name came on the bank statement. I learned to be responsible and pay attention for my own benefit. But it’s simply not enough to bury our noses in our own business.

At a recent meeting, an elected official expressed her concern that residents don’t pay enough attention to changes that may affect their neighborhood. Her suggestion was to allow more time for the public to learn more and to speak out about a particular issue. And more time for the public to play catch up is sometimes necessary — when it’s available. We elect officials hoping that they will make their decisions with our best interests in mind. But we can all benefit from the reminder that our responsibilities don’t stop after mailing in a ballot and we don’t always get an opportunity to play catch up.

We have to be responsible for watching what is or isn’t occurring around us whether it directly affects us or not. From now until election season concludes in November, monetary figures will be tossed around and made public. Neighbors and community members will sound off on the issues that most concern them. Will enough people be paying attention?

Early candidate filing deadlines mean more time to watch yards and corners fill with campaign signs, but it also means more opportunities to listen, to contact candidates, to speak up on issues most concerning to neighborhoods.

Yes, managing day-to-day life is often challenging and something we all eventually have to learn on our own. But caring enough to pay attention on a larger scale, whether it involves money or not, is just as much of a full-time responsibility.