To The Editor:

I was driving down Main Street the day after Labor Day and watched a bunch of guys, clearly hired for the day, going yard to yard putting up those massive blue banners. (I know they've been somewhat of a controversial topic since they've gone up). Same crew, different houses, one after another. I doubt a single one of them could've told you a thing about the person whose name was on the sign they were pounding in.

Whoever's actually running those campaigns wasn't out there with them. Just a truck, a stack of signs, and strangers working through a list.

Meanwhile I've personally seen both Mitch Bolinsky and Amybeth Laroche out with their teams putting up their own signs. In the heat, on the weekends, on tiny backroads. No day laborers, just them, unglamorously going house to house in their spare time. If you see them out there, honk! They're very nice.

I understand it might sound like I'm being petty, that's truly not my goal here. If you can't be bothered to put your own sign in a supporter's yard, what exactly are you going to be bothered to do once you're actually elected? These are people asking to work for us. Starting off by paying somebody else to do the easy part doesn't exactly inspire confidence that they'll show up for the hard stuff later.

I'd rather the candidates who show up and do the work themselves over the ones who hire it out. We should all be paying attention to how these candidates actually act when they think nobody's grading them on it.

Vikki Carlson

Newtown