events - AFSCME picnic

Connecticut's Senatorial hopeful Richard Blumenthal was at the AFSCME Council 4 picnic held at Holiday Hill, in Bethany. We spoke for almost two minutes. I had not known he was going to be there, but was glad to have met is acquaintance. He said he knew my name; plausible since I've gotten mail from his office alerting me of situations about which patients had written him.

But it is the picnic itself that I found more intriguing.

It terms of ethnic mix, if the attendance (which was pretty impressive in size) is typical, Council 4 members are pretty diverse. Yet I could not help but be dismayed that people flocked together at tables mostly by apparent ethnic groups.

When I asked one of the folks from the New Britain office (she was Latina), the guess was that, encouraging diversity notwithstanding, people still hang with those they feel they know closest.

I should also note that the seating was in contrast from folks milling about, and ~ later ~ dancing. Especially dancing; on the floor folks mixed and matched with greater ease.

Had I known more about the location before I'd gone, I definitely would have brought a swimsuit.

The locale was idyllic in appearance; the food tasty and plentiful.

The workers, mostly summer-job college kids, were not members of any union local themselves. Small Irony.