december rabble rouser of the month!

madison root (lake oswego, oregon)

disregarding the fact that the rabble rouser is not a fan of cosmetic surgery/dentistry and other types of image altering motives in the vain social psyche...we must cut some slack once in a while. kids deserve the same chances in life that are afforded by “fitting in,” it is not the kids that must change, but the social standard. there is way too much importance placed on appearance, including where it concerns teeth. other societies in europe and asia don’t have such an emphasis on perfect teeth. however, messed up as it all is, i do want every child to have an ace chance to kick ass. that is why madison root is the rabble rouser of the month for december.

madison, who is 11-years-old, took up a “part time job” of selling mistletoe to help pay for her braces. she cut and bagged mistletoe at her uncle’s farm and sold it in front of the skidmore fountain at the portland saturday market for $4 each. that is, until she was busted by a private security guard for the market. apparently, as KATU reported, the city code says that selling is banned in parks “except as expressley permitted under the terms of a lease, concession or permit.”

is it really that bad? she is eleven! she was selling mistletoe! don’t even ask what, besides alcohol, bartenders all over the city already sell. madison seems to have a pretty decent guess at that. but the catch is that something like a bar would be private property, not a park. don’t you just love the way the laws arbitrarily work.

consider this, according to KTVL in medford, the state of oregon sells voter information to for-profit companies to the tune of $500 per document. the selling of such things is not an unusual practice, but the state of washington only charges $7. then, consider her father’s perspective. she would be allowed to beg for money at the market, but not allowed to even give away mistletoe on a donation basis. in other words, we have a flawed system in place and madison stepped up to fight against that. “i feel i can make a statement and possibly make a difference,” madison said in an AP article printed in the seattle times on december 4. “the city laws are supporting begging and are against working.”

it is instilling a horrible work ethic in young people to say that begging is fine, but selling is not. madison said, “i don’t want to beg. i would rather work for something. it’s crazy. people can get money for pot, but i can’t get money for braces.”

the curse of getting busted came with the reward of great advertising. enough attention was created to give people an opportunity to donate money to madison. an estacada tree farm owner donated $1000. hundreds of orders came in from all over. she went to the orthodontist and got her braces on december 2. plus, the city of portland stepped up and exempted her cause and the mayor is looking into changing the by-laws. she was then allowed to return to the market.

but the point remains...don’t just change the by-laws, though. change the way society thinks. not just with the fixation we have on image that is a curse for madison and countless people like her. more importantly, if laws weren’t so redicuolous, we wouldn’t have security guards going after 11-year-old girls. when are we going to stop punishing people for being poor and desperate and doing what it takes to get basic needs met?

thanks to madison root for bringing such issues to the public consciousness. she is a budding entrepeneur to be sure. check out her website! http://madisonroot.com

- thanks to Jeni T for the nomination.