Coffee Shop Congressman

This morning while eating my biscuits and gravy I noticed an individual walk in that looked familiar but couldn’t remember from where. Finally, it came to me: I found him in my mailbox on a campaign mailer. I was in the same room as Congressman Rudy Yakym from Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District.

Oh, he doesn’t want to be bothered.

He’s probably busy, I should leave him alone.

But Marlon, you have questions…

So I eventually got out of my own way and approached him. After introducing myself I led with a question about how to approach conversations where others may become defensive or shut off based on split second decisions or assumptions. His advice was to focus on an approach of intellectual curiosity. Why do you think that way? What led you to come to these beliefs? It was a perfect segue for storytelling so I gave him by business card and shared a little bit of what I do. He then asked me to share a bit of my own story.

I shared major points, first-generation American with Filipino immigrant parents, originally from California but moved here in 2013, disabled Navy veteran,  father of two, queer, and on the spectrum. More importantly I shared my own motivation for curiosity – since becoming a parent, I’ve been paying more attention to municipal issues and that’s sparked my curiosity in the different levels of social justice and civil service through the federal level.

Here’s a bit of Rudy’s story from his congressional website:

A fourth-generation Hoosier, Rudy was born and raised in South Bend. He holds a business finance degree from Indiana University South Bend and an Executive MBA from the University of Notre Dame. Before Congress, he worked in the private sector, most recently as Director of Growth Initiatives at Kem Krest, where he led efforts to streamline supply chains and drive economic development.

In his first term, Rep. Yakym served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he previously served as Vice Chair of the Aviation Authorization Act and led a bipartisan push to address the national air traffic controller shortage.

Rudy and his wife Sallyann currently live in Granger, where they are raising their three wonderful children; Elle, Rudy IV, and Eliza. They worship at New Life Baptist Church, where Rudy serves the congregation as Head Usher.

As we continued our chat he shared that his focus is on actionable items. “Results over rhetoric,” as he put it. With his EMBA and background in finance, and being no stranger to political forums, having worked with the late Jackie Walorski on her 2012 Campaign, he was bestowed the nomination to step in and finish the term after Walorski’s passing.

It was also interesting to hear how much he hears from his constituents, receiving upwards of 2,000 letters weekly, where he learns about personal pain points where he can step in to help rectify those losses, whether they are helping a veteran receive a commendation that was missed on their DD-214, to reclaiming an erroneous shortage on someone’s monthly social security check.

Finally, I asked about how best to approach and address conversations with people I have strong disagreements with. With moderate knowledge of his full platform, I have multiple points where we have differing views, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a conversation with him. When I introduced myself as a moderate progressive, he shared, “I love all God’s children,” and that it shouldn’t matter where we stand, we should all be heard. I liked his viewpoint that isn’t about “just two sides, [Republicans and Democrats], but an octagon.” And thats definitely more accurate when people take the time to look at issues. It isn’t a clear binary debate of black and white. There are nuances and niches and margins, and everyone deserves a chance, not only to be heard, but to feel safe and seen in this world.

All that to say, I felt better having talked to someone that, on paper, we are not on equal levels, but face to face, we’re two Hoosiers and two parents who want the best for their families. If you’re in Indiana’s 2nd District and want to reach out to his office, contact them here.

My major takeaways from this coffee shop chat with a Congressman were these:

1. Everyone deserves a voice
2. Approach conversations with intellectual curiosity
3. Results over rhetoric, take action, don’t just yell.