Tuesday, April 7 was a heavy day.

At 8:06am, the President of the United States posted on social media “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” News outlets reported that the US gave Iran until 8pm ET to open the Strait of Hormuz, or face a massive bombing attack.

The White House later denied that this threat implied nuclear war. But many of us inferred just that. What other mean are there for carrying out the death of a whole civilization?

I called Rep. Bill Huizenga’s office mid-morning, and explained my concern about a president posting such a threat on social media. I explained my concern about a pending nuclear war, and I asked what could be done about this. The response I was given was that my concerns would be passed along to the Representative. That was not reassuring, to say the least.

On Wednesday, a friend and I headed to Rep. Huizinga’s office to reiterate our concerns.

If you haven’t been to the Huizenga’s Holland office, you should know some things about it. There is no obvious sign indicating its presence. The windows and the glass door are covered in a reflecting material, so there is no peeking inside. The door is locked, and there is a sign noting that the office is open by appointment, and if you want to leave a comment you should go to the Representative’s website.

The sign also notes that if you need further clarification, please ring the doorbell. Which is what we did.

I came prepared with a typed letter to the Representative addressing concerns over Tuesday’s threat, and calling for the House to return immediately and pass a War Powers Resolution to rein in the President. My friend and I expected that we would have some type of conversation via the doorbell intercom and slide the note under the door. This is the usual outcome of visits to this office.

To our complete surprise, the staff let us in!

We were only able to speak with one staff member, but we tried to convey the dreadful emotions of the prior day, noting that no one should have had to wonder if we are about to enter into nuclear war. I confirmed with the staffer that we couldn’t get an appointment with the Representative because of perceived security concerns surrounding the sharing of his schedule. Then I asked if there is a process to set up a one-on-one phone call with the Representative. This seemed to stump him. He said he’d pass that question up the chain. We left the letter I had brought with the staffer.

There are a few reasons that I am relaying this information to you. First, regardless of how so many previous visits to Rep. Huizenga’s office have played out, always be prepared for a face to face conversation when you go. If I had not gathered my thoughts on paper as well as in my head, I may have found myself not knowing which issue (or how many issues) to discuss with the staffer.

Second, I would really like to see others ask about one-on-one phone calls. Do I think we’ll get to talk directly to the Representative? No, I really don’t. But I also strongly suspect that Huizenga is hiding behind security issues that other Representatives are having, as a way to avoid dealing with his constituents. Asking about a direct conversation by phone is one way to expose that as an excuse.

Third, it’s important to ignore Rep. Huizenga’s hermit-like behavior when it comes to his constituents and to continue to call, write and visit his office. We have to make ourselves difficult to ignore, while following the rules of communication.

We’d love to hear about any interactions you’ve had with your Representative. Consider posting about them on the HZ Indivisible Facebook page.