Is silence really golden? (Or alternatively titled: “Why can’t I keep my big trap shut?”)

Last week I received another of those seemingly-innocent text messages from a fellow Board of Education member: "Do you think tonight's meeting will be a long one?"

On the surface this question is innocent enough, but at this point I've learned that the true interpretation of this all-too-familiar inquiry is really: "Are you planning on asking a lot of questions because I need to be home in 30 minutes to catch tonight's Mets/Cubs preseason game?"

Thus my dilemma. 

I want to be a team player, I really do. When I was in the Army and given an order, I never questioned it. When my fire department captain instructs me to "mask-up" and run into a fire, I don't question it. Even when my wife tells me I have to watch Desperate Housewives with her, I begrudgingly oblige and don't question it. But for some reason the more actively involved I've become in Freehold Borough life, the more difficult I'm finding it to suppress my inquisitive nature. Be it amongst my fellow Board of Education members, local town officials, or even members within my own local political party, I pretty much question everything nowadays.

Which leads me to my current predicament: WHY CAN’T I SIMPLY KEEP MY BIG TRAP SHUT?

One would think that after being derisively labeled/referred to "that little pain in the ^#%" and likely losing the friendships of some local town politicians, I'd have learned my lesson and stopped asking so many damned questions – allowing everyone to get home in time and catch every dreaded Mets preseason game. But interestingly enough the new label and loss of backing has actually had somewhat of a "freeing" effect on me and subconsciously made me question things even more. It's also completely changed my perspective insofar as I no longer trust those I used to implicitly trust – all because I'd begun asking a few measly questions!

I suppose at the end of the day doing things the easy way has never really been my style. (Although I imagine if it had been, I'd never have left my couch and joined the military/fire department/Board of Education in the first place.) The way I look at it, I have a responsibility to my family, my neighbors, and to the entire Borough community to keep everyone honest and continue calling things like I see them.

So I guess in summation the answer is pretty much a "yes". Anytime I'm around, you can pretty much bet on tonight's meeting being a long one.

Yours truly, 

That little pain in the ^#$