We deserve better than political brinkmanship and private ballrooms that nobody needs. We deserve representatives who see the people behind the policy — families just trying to get through a Tuesday night with something decent on the table.

I stopped by the Walmart in Salisbury this week to pick up some groceries for a friend. Nothing fancy, just the basics. But one box on the shelf caught my eye: Hamburger Helper, now suggesting we “Try with hot dogs instead of ground beef.”

My first reaction was to snort. I’m 34 and it called back to often-strange TikTok trends, but when you think about what it says about where we are… That’s pretty sobering. Families across Salisbury and Rowan County are stretching every dollar, swapping what they’d like to buy for what they can buy. Meanwhile, Washington is shut down again. Federal workers are furloughed, small business loans are paused, veterans are waiting on benefits. And we’re repeatedly being told this is just another “temporary” inconvenience in a “strong” economy.

Salisbury is full of people who make do, who keep showing up, who make things work no matter what happens in D.C. But the truth is, families shouldn’t have to improvise their dinner plans because the folks in Congress can’t do their jobs.

We deserve better than political brinkmanship and private ballrooms that nobody needs. We deserve representatives who see the people behind the policy — families just trying to get through a Tuesday night with something decent on the table. Families like mine. We’re lucky; We can afford food for our little family.

I keep thinking back to it, though. “Try with hot dogs instead of ground beef.” It’s clever marketing, sure. But it’s also a reminder that working families have been “making do” long enough, and this year’s been one of the worst.

Anduin Craighill-Middleton