Go Ask Your Mother

-- Interview by Mary Beth Sheridan

Linda and Allison Cropp

D.C. Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp, 57, and daughter Allison Cropp, 32, an emergency medical technician.

Allison: [Referring to the boos and the applause her mother received at the Nationals' exhibition game against the New York Mets at RFK Stadium on April 3] How do you feel about the negativity?

Linda: I knew that when I decided to take the position I did with baseball it was not going to be a popular position with some people. But I did not know, and I was surprised by, how popular it was with a lot of people. What I usually hated about my job, when I had to make tough decisions . . . was that you all would get upset about it . . . That is why I started not taking you all to certain things, because if it was a decision that was really controversial, when you were a little girl you would start fussing. You know, you have a mouth. [They laugh.]

Allison: I do.

Linda: You all would take things more personally than I. I have learned to have thicker skin when people aren't positive.

Allison: So how did you do that? How do you not take

it personally?

Linda: When we went to the game, before I hooked up with you all, there were so many positive comments. There were positive vibes from people, going down on the elevator, walking through the crowd. Some people said, "At one point, I was angry, but you did the right thing," or "You did the right thing, and we still got baseball" . . . I

had so many of those positive things prior to the boos that it helped me feel good . . . When I heard the boos, I kept thinking about those positive things. Also, your Daddy had warned me. [They laugh.]

The very first time I campaigned for office . . . someone said something nasty to me. And I swung around, and I started letting them have it. And the people who were my supporters said, "Come here. If you ever do that again . . . I don't care what they say to you." That was a lesson for me. And they were right. People say things . . . You just let it roll off. Don't let it affect you. You know who you are.