That batch of volunteers from California were great. The guy ran a doggie daycare with his (much younger) girlfriend, and one of the 2 women who accompanied them was a dog trainer who brought her dogs along everywhere, one of which she would make do tricks in front of large groups of people.
"Hey [the dog's name]," she was like. "What do you think of Paul Ryan's budget?"
And, at that, the dog would put its paws over its face like it was hiding, and everyone would laugh and clap.
Anyways, the other woman they brought with them was saying how when she went out to volunteer earlier, one of the volunteers said he wouldn't vote for Paul Ryan, but that Paul Ryan seemed like a nice guy.
"What do you mean?", she was like.
"Well, he seems like a nice guy," the guy said.
"You know what they call someone who smiles and looks you in the eye and is nice to you but then turns around and makes a budget that harms the elderly, the mentally retarded, and the poor?", she was like. "A sociopath."
At that, the other volunteer paused, though for a few seconds, and was like, "You know, you're right, he is a sociopath."
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
Election Day (3 of 9): Shit.
Because I had made up a big pot of lentil soup as an experiment, I'm not sure what it does to my bowels, but I sure was gassy all election day, and everyone few hours when I was back in the office I'd dodge in to the bathroom, fart a lot over the toilet, and every once in a while a few pieces of greenish-brown shit would fly out and clump up on the top of the toilet and smell nasty.
I made sure to use the Lysol-equivalent in there, but the 2nd time I took a shit, the toilet got semi clogged, and the water was murky and there were bits of toilet paper and a few scattered turds in there, as the water slowly settled down, but not enough to flush everything.
I tried flushing a 2nd time, but it didn't work, then I opened the door and there were a couple middle-aged (white) women volunteers waiting to piss, so I shrugged and was like, "The toilet is a bit clogged," and the first one said, "Okay!", and headed in to use the restroom anyway.
I wonder what my shit will look like from all the crazy food I ate up in Wisconsin on election day: bagels and cream cheese, tons of coffee, lots of cold lasagna and pasta salad, then fruit salad and Miller Lite at the watch party.
I made sure to use the Lysol-equivalent in there, but the 2nd time I took a shit, the toilet got semi clogged, and the water was murky and there were bits of toilet paper and a few scattered turds in there, as the water slowly settled down, but not enough to flush everything.
I tried flushing a 2nd time, but it didn't work, then I opened the door and there were a couple middle-aged (white) women volunteers waiting to piss, so I shrugged and was like, "The toilet is a bit clogged," and the first one said, "Okay!", and headed in to use the restroom anyway.
I wonder what my shit will look like from all the crazy food I ate up in Wisconsin on election day: bagels and cream cheese, tons of coffee, lots of cold lasagna and pasta salad, then fruit salad and Miller Lite at the watch party.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Election Day (2 of 9): Good voters, bad voters.
I met some great voters and some bad voters:
1) One (white) (working class) woman whose (bearded) (fat) boyfriend had just left for work in a car with an extremely booming bass and who probably wasn't going to vote said she had voted, was on him a lot, had convinced one person to vote, and actively reminded like 3 coworkers. She said she'd work more on someone when she got home! She lived in this very industrial neighborhood in a rundown house that had a small stone lion on the porch for some reason. She also had some person's girlfriend living at that address, and had gotten her registered and to the polls as well.
2) The (shorter) (young) (heavyset) (white) (works-at-a-gas-station) girlfriend of the (bearded) (white) guy in the cowboy hat said she had driven 3 coworkers to the polls that morning... The (bearded) (white) guy in the cowboy hat had drive 2 friends in the morning, and since he finished up canvassing at 7:20pm (10 minutes before me), he used that spare time to call his remaining friends to check up on their votes, and he got 2 more off their asses to vote before poll close, they had meant to vote but hadn't realized how late it was getting.
3) Outside one apartment building where I spent the afternoon, at every entryway they had a box where you could scroll through names, so I checked to see what people hadn't been contacted and then I double-checked to call names not on the list...
At one entryway I reminded some voters who hadn't voted yet (the wife was waiting for her husband) and at another I turned up some voters not on the list, so I decided that was a useful way to spend some time, esp. since there weren't really any other turfs available to me right then.
At like the 5th entryway, though, as I'm going through the list, this (heavyset) (shorter) (white) woman in her mid-50s comes out to get the mail, and as she passes in front of me to get to her mailbox, without even looking at me, she hits the "hang up" button on the box as the phone is ringing over the intercom.
"Don't do that here," she was like. "Everyone was talking the other day and said how much they hate that."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I was like. "What's your last name? I won't call you."
"Everyone hates it, don't call," the woman was like. "And there's only two apartments in the building."
(The complex did have foreclosures here and there, and I'm guessing some summer people, since it was near the lake.)
"At other apartments some people thanked me for reminders," I was like. "What's your last name? I'll make sure not to call up there, I don't want to bother anyone who doesn't want to be bothered."
We repeated that conversation a few more times and she wouldn't say her last name, then she went in brusquely, and I called up and left messages for a few people (the doorbox rang up to apartments and I guess answering machines).
It wasn't about her and people being bothered at all, honestly, I think she was a Romney person who hated to see Obama people out. People can try to scare you off like that, and come out and say to not knock on the other door on the porch if a house has been divided into apartments, and stuff like that.
1) One (white) (working class) woman whose (bearded) (fat) boyfriend had just left for work in a car with an extremely booming bass and who probably wasn't going to vote said she had voted, was on him a lot, had convinced one person to vote, and actively reminded like 3 coworkers. She said she'd work more on someone when she got home! She lived in this very industrial neighborhood in a rundown house that had a small stone lion on the porch for some reason. She also had some person's girlfriend living at that address, and had gotten her registered and to the polls as well.
2) The (shorter) (young) (heavyset) (white) (works-at-a-gas-station) girlfriend of the (bearded) (white) guy in the cowboy hat said she had driven 3 coworkers to the polls that morning... The (bearded) (white) guy in the cowboy hat had drive 2 friends in the morning, and since he finished up canvassing at 7:20pm (10 minutes before me), he used that spare time to call his remaining friends to check up on their votes, and he got 2 more off their asses to vote before poll close, they had meant to vote but hadn't realized how late it was getting.
3) Outside one apartment building where I spent the afternoon, at every entryway they had a box where you could scroll through names, so I checked to see what people hadn't been contacted and then I double-checked to call names not on the list...
At one entryway I reminded some voters who hadn't voted yet (the wife was waiting for her husband) and at another I turned up some voters not on the list, so I decided that was a useful way to spend some time, esp. since there weren't really any other turfs available to me right then.
At like the 5th entryway, though, as I'm going through the list, this (heavyset) (shorter) (white) woman in her mid-50s comes out to get the mail, and as she passes in front of me to get to her mailbox, without even looking at me, she hits the "hang up" button on the box as the phone is ringing over the intercom.
"Don't do that here," she was like. "Everyone was talking the other day and said how much they hate that."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I was like. "What's your last name? I won't call you."
"Everyone hates it, don't call," the woman was like. "And there's only two apartments in the building."
(The complex did have foreclosures here and there, and I'm guessing some summer people, since it was near the lake.)
"At other apartments some people thanked me for reminders," I was like. "What's your last name? I'll make sure not to call up there, I don't want to bother anyone who doesn't want to be bothered."
We repeated that conversation a few more times and she wouldn't say her last name, then she went in brusquely, and I called up and left messages for a few people (the doorbox rang up to apartments and I guess answering machines).
It wasn't about her and people being bothered at all, honestly, I think she was a Romney person who hated to see Obama people out. People can try to scare you off like that, and come out and say to not knock on the other door on the porch if a house has been divided into apartments, and stuff like that.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Election Day (1 of 9): Course of my Day.
I got up at 6:10am to get the 6:45am commuter rail ride that got into Wisconsin at 8:15am, then walked to the office, where I got a walk pack that'd set me up for the next like 3 hours.
The walkpacks were "semi-blind", which means that you went to the doors as indicated (knocking for supporters, avoiding people who weren't supporters or who were marked "don't knock"), but going to any unmarked doors, since the reasoning was that since the area is 75-80% democratic, if you turned up new voters, they'd mostly be on your side.
They gave me 2, since they said that so many doors were already crossed off (b/c people early voted, for example), I'd get through them in no time...
As I was getting ready to get organized to go out, my one friend who I know from the sex documentary series who's into BDSM showed up with a couple of his friends, so we talked for a second, then I headed out.
My 1st turf was west of the railroad tracks in a mixed working class area (white, black, some latino), and I was very conscientious about going to every door, so I was busy from like 9am until 1:45pm (!), but I met a handful of voters who I was able to get info to on same-day registration, their polling place location, and everything like that.
I walked back and took like a 45minute lunch where I ate some cold lasagna and pasta salad out of the fridge, and found out that 2 of my friends (and a 3rd they brought with them) had been in the office just a while earlier, and had been sent up to a campaign office in a city like an hour north since they were short on volunteers up there.
After my lunch, I got a new walk packet in this condo complex just west of the campaign office - they didn't have that many turfs left in walking distance, or at all! - so I basically spent the next hour buzzing buzzers and occasionally reaching someone to find out they had already voted.
After that, I went back, and they got me *another* walk packet in that same large condo/planned development complex, and I spent more time buzzing buzzers and occasionally finding out that someone had voted.
When I got back around 6pm-ish, the office was empty, since a half hour earlier anyone left had been sent to the staging office on the other end of town. Since no-one there had a car right then, I helped peel tape off the floor, and after 10 minutes a (white) guy my age with a beard and a leather cowboy hat came in, and after we had both refreshed ourselves with pulled pork sandwiches, we got into his truck (after he cleared some crap out), then headed over to the next office.
It was like 6:30pm by then, and since polls closed at 8pm, we got walkpacks next to each other and went out with flashlights to a nearby neighborhood to round up any last vote, with people who hadn't been contacted at all or people who had said earlier in the day that they vote (people wrote notes on this), to make sure they voted.
It was rainy and dark and I walked around like that full hour in an working class area to the near southwest of downtown, and the most I did was talk with a few people on the list and confirm that they voted... Though it hadn't been since that morning that I had met anyone who hadn't voted, my partner talked with a girl who was waiting for her boyfriend to get home so they could go vote together, and as he left, the guy's car pulled up in the driveway.
As we were in that one fellow canvasser's truck, he had some newsradio channel on, and I couldn't believe it was election night already, and I didn't feel like I was there, and I was just a bundle of nerves, and I kept wishing there was more time to prepare for the campaign.
Around that time, I found out that the people I knew who had driven up and had decamped to another city weren't going to be meeting up with me, they were super tired and were driving home instead.
Back at the campaign office, we dropped off our packs and talked with everyone who was there - including that one highschooler, her twin sister, and her boyfriend, who couldn't volunteer that day but had dropped by the office to see how everything was going.
Also there was a guy from California who had flown in to volunteer for the recalls, and who had come back again with his girlfriend and even more family.
There was a (black) engineer, too, who was talking with staffer, and he said he'd give me a ride to the election night watch party, and he was lingering forever, but I had to wait for him since the (white) guy with the beard and a cowboy had to go get his girlfriend and he only had one seat in his truck.
At the watch party, I ran into a ton of people and I had free beer and calmed down, but after all the Wisconsin results came in, it was pretty much downhill and people were breaking up by like 10:30am.
The California guy I know was in a group, and he said he'd be happy to drive me back to the commuter rail for the 11:30pm train, so I took him up on that, waited around the station (including a quick break to go find an alley to piss in; there were no public restrooms and I had to wait 20min for the train), hopped on the train, and was back in the city around 1am, home a bit thereafter, then took a shower and unpacked and relaxed and ate ramen noodles and was in bed by 2:30am.
I missed all the speeches since I was on the train! I'll catch up on YouTube though...
The walkpacks were "semi-blind", which means that you went to the doors as indicated (knocking for supporters, avoiding people who weren't supporters or who were marked "don't knock"), but going to any unmarked doors, since the reasoning was that since the area is 75-80% democratic, if you turned up new voters, they'd mostly be on your side.
They gave me 2, since they said that so many doors were already crossed off (b/c people early voted, for example), I'd get through them in no time...
As I was getting ready to get organized to go out, my one friend who I know from the sex documentary series who's into BDSM showed up with a couple of his friends, so we talked for a second, then I headed out.
My 1st turf was west of the railroad tracks in a mixed working class area (white, black, some latino), and I was very conscientious about going to every door, so I was busy from like 9am until 1:45pm (!), but I met a handful of voters who I was able to get info to on same-day registration, their polling place location, and everything like that.
I walked back and took like a 45minute lunch where I ate some cold lasagna and pasta salad out of the fridge, and found out that 2 of my friends (and a 3rd they brought with them) had been in the office just a while earlier, and had been sent up to a campaign office in a city like an hour north since they were short on volunteers up there.
After my lunch, I got a new walk packet in this condo complex just west of the campaign office - they didn't have that many turfs left in walking distance, or at all! - so I basically spent the next hour buzzing buzzers and occasionally reaching someone to find out they had already voted.
After that, I went back, and they got me *another* walk packet in that same large condo/planned development complex, and I spent more time buzzing buzzers and occasionally finding out that someone had voted.
When I got back around 6pm-ish, the office was empty, since a half hour earlier anyone left had been sent to the staging office on the other end of town. Since no-one there had a car right then, I helped peel tape off the floor, and after 10 minutes a (white) guy my age with a beard and a leather cowboy hat came in, and after we had both refreshed ourselves with pulled pork sandwiches, we got into his truck (after he cleared some crap out), then headed over to the next office.
It was like 6:30pm by then, and since polls closed at 8pm, we got walkpacks next to each other and went out with flashlights to a nearby neighborhood to round up any last vote, with people who hadn't been contacted at all or people who had said earlier in the day that they vote (people wrote notes on this), to make sure they voted.
It was rainy and dark and I walked around like that full hour in an working class area to the near southwest of downtown, and the most I did was talk with a few people on the list and confirm that they voted... Though it hadn't been since that morning that I had met anyone who hadn't voted, my partner talked with a girl who was waiting for her boyfriend to get home so they could go vote together, and as he left, the guy's car pulled up in the driveway.
As we were in that one fellow canvasser's truck, he had some newsradio channel on, and I couldn't believe it was election night already, and I didn't feel like I was there, and I was just a bundle of nerves, and I kept wishing there was more time to prepare for the campaign.
Around that time, I found out that the people I knew who had driven up and had decamped to another city weren't going to be meeting up with me, they were super tired and were driving home instead.
Back at the campaign office, we dropped off our packs and talked with everyone who was there - including that one highschooler, her twin sister, and her boyfriend, who couldn't volunteer that day but had dropped by the office to see how everything was going.
Also there was a guy from California who had flown in to volunteer for the recalls, and who had come back again with his girlfriend and even more family.
There was a (black) engineer, too, who was talking with staffer, and he said he'd give me a ride to the election night watch party, and he was lingering forever, but I had to wait for him since the (white) guy with the beard and a cowboy had to go get his girlfriend and he only had one seat in his truck.
At the watch party, I ran into a ton of people and I had free beer and calmed down, but after all the Wisconsin results came in, it was pretty much downhill and people were breaking up by like 10:30am.
The California guy I know was in a group, and he said he'd be happy to drive me back to the commuter rail for the 11:30pm train, so I took him up on that, waited around the station (including a quick break to go find an alley to piss in; there were no public restrooms and I had to wait 20min for the train), hopped on the train, and was back in the city around 1am, home a bit thereafter, then took a shower and unpacked and relaxed and ate ramen noodles and was in bed by 2:30am.
I missed all the speeches since I was on the train! I'll catch up on YouTube though...
Dream (2 of 2): Bible.
I had a dream that same night as the bike dream -
I dreamed that I saw the Greek New Testament of a professor on my committee, and it was on thick, normal pages, rather than the onion skin-type that get crinkly as soon as you use them.
I got upset, and wished I had a Bible like that.
...in the past, that prof has talked about how bibles are presented differently with paper covers etc., and also I got a Hebrew bible that was soft cover because it was the only edition the bookstore had, but some of my colleagues got hardcover ones online, and I wish I had one of those, since mine is already getting beat up from my reading Judges so much, even though I keep it at home...
I dreamed that I saw the Greek New Testament of a professor on my committee, and it was on thick, normal pages, rather than the onion skin-type that get crinkly as soon as you use them.
I got upset, and wished I had a Bible like that.
...in the past, that prof has talked about how bibles are presented differently with paper covers etc., and also I got a Hebrew bible that was soft cover because it was the only edition the bookstore had, but some of my colleagues got hardcover ones online, and I wish I had one of those, since mine is already getting beat up from my reading Judges so much, even though I keep it at home...
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Posters!
For my one "modern groups that do interesting things with sex" course (not its real title), I made up some lesbian separatist posters that involved a period photo of a topless woman chopping wood with an ax.
I double-checked with my faculty mentor that and another poster before putting them up to make sure I get minimum enrollment, and he said the cartoon breasts on the other poster would be good, and he liked the lesbian separatist poster a lot, but he'd have to check it with someone before hanging, and if they were good, he'd hang them himself.
"You can do whatever you want in the classroom here," he was like, "And I really like that photo, but I don't want you to accidentally get in trouble with the poster, especially since you haven't taught here before."
As he said that, I noticed a black marker on his desk.
"Hey, can I borrow your marker? I can just marker over her breasts, then we can hang the poster," I was like.
"NO!", he said right away. "That would be even worse!".
I double-checked with my faculty mentor that and another poster before putting them up to make sure I get minimum enrollment, and he said the cartoon breasts on the other poster would be good, and he liked the lesbian separatist poster a lot, but he'd have to check it with someone before hanging, and if they were good, he'd hang them himself.
"You can do whatever you want in the classroom here," he was like, "And I really like that photo, but I don't want you to accidentally get in trouble with the poster, especially since you haven't taught here before."
As he said that, I noticed a black marker on his desk.
"Hey, can I borrow your marker? I can just marker over her breasts, then we can hang the poster," I was like.
"NO!", he said right away. "That would be even worse!".
Monday, November 5, 2012
Addendum Addendum Addendum.
10) After I came back from my 2nd round of canvassing, I met this wonderful group of 4 volunteers who had also come up from my city:
- A (shorter) (racially ambiguous) (mid-50s) woman in funky coat and big hat.
- A (much older) (racially ambiguous) woman in a fur coat who kind of resembled the lady in the funky coat.
- A (late 30s) (quiet) (white) woman who turned out to be a public school teacher.
- That woman's mom, who looked all grandmotherly (though aging gracefully) and was in a union of some sort.
I started talking with the lady in the funky coat, and it turns out she owns a major resale shop in the city's big "up and coming" neighborhood".
They had to run out since the lady in the funky coat had lost her iPhone and someone had contacted her about it - she had left it in someone's mailbox (?) - but then I met up with them again at the commuter rail station and we rode in the same car on the way back.
"It's so important to support the president," the lady in the funky coat was like. "This stuff matters, in this lifetime, to enable him to do good. I can't do the good he can do, unless I'm a president in another life, but I can support him here to do what he can do."
The older lady in the fur coat also told me how that when she and the lady in the funky coat went out canvassing together, someone came out and took a photo of her.
"My mom is in her 70s and wants to help but says she's too old to walk around!", the woman told them. "I want to show her what dedication looks like!"
We then talked about food, and the older lady in the fur coat said she really liked the Obama logo cake, and had one piece.
"Why not two, or five?", I was like.
"Oh honey," she said in her quiet voice, "I would love to, but I can't have more than one piece."
"But you worked that and more off walking around for all those hours!"
At that, she grimaced, and was like, "You know what they say, 'From the lips to the hips,'", and when she said lips she touched her mouth, and when she said hips she touched her hips.
- A (shorter) (racially ambiguous) (mid-50s) woman in funky coat and big hat.
- A (much older) (racially ambiguous) woman in a fur coat who kind of resembled the lady in the funky coat.
- A (late 30s) (quiet) (white) woman who turned out to be a public school teacher.
- That woman's mom, who looked all grandmotherly (though aging gracefully) and was in a union of some sort.
I started talking with the lady in the funky coat, and it turns out she owns a major resale shop in the city's big "up and coming" neighborhood".
They had to run out since the lady in the funky coat had lost her iPhone and someone had contacted her about it - she had left it in someone's mailbox (?) - but then I met up with them again at the commuter rail station and we rode in the same car on the way back.
"It's so important to support the president," the lady in the funky coat was like. "This stuff matters, in this lifetime, to enable him to do good. I can't do the good he can do, unless I'm a president in another life, but I can support him here to do what he can do."
The older lady in the fur coat also told me how that when she and the lady in the funky coat went out canvassing together, someone came out and took a photo of her.
"My mom is in her 70s and wants to help but says she's too old to walk around!", the woman told them. "I want to show her what dedication looks like!"
We then talked about food, and the older lady in the fur coat said she really liked the Obama logo cake, and had one piece.
"Why not two, or five?", I was like.
"Oh honey," she said in her quiet voice, "I would love to, but I can't have more than one piece."
"But you worked that and more off walking around for all those hours!"
At that, she grimaced, and was like, "You know what they say, 'From the lips to the hips,'", and when she said lips she touched her mouth, and when she said hips she touched her hips.
Addendum addendum.
7) The county treasurer made a crapload of good homemade food for volunteers, as usual:
- breakfast strata (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) for breakfast.
- 20lbs of Italian beef and chili (with 40lbs of ground beef) for lunch.
- a crockpot of vegetarian chili for dinner, along with an OBAMA carrot cake that had the campaign logo in red, white, and blue frosting.
They have hospitality like no other there. I thanked all of the local Democratic Party people profusely.
The one older (heavyset) (white) lady who had had a beer on the porch with (black) voters in a (bad) neighborhood back in 2008 when she did canvassing was very upset during lunch, b/c the Italian beef ran out and she didn't know that chili was coming.
"I just feel so awful," she was like. "There's all these people here, what are they going to eat?".
I asked her if I should run to the grocery store and get pre-made subs like they served a few weeks ago, and we started to figure that out (money, how I would get there, etc.), but then luckily the chili came.
8) That same lady was talking with the county treasurer about election night.
"I just can't wait for this to all be over," she was like.
"You gonna need someone to drive you home like last time?", the treasure asked her.
"Oh yeah," she was like, "I'm going to get messed up."
9) One (mid-30s) (black) woman with a piercing through the skin below her lower lip mentioned her girlfriend, so I made sure to tell her that Tammy Baldwin was a lesbian.
"I didn't know that," she was like. "They should know that down at [name of the local gay club]!"
Then she added, "I'd get with her."
She also said a bunch of her family was just plain lazy and never voted, even though they were on food stamps and stuff, so we strategized on how we could get them to the polls on election day. We went through same-day registration stuff together, then she was going to hop online to figure out where their precinct was, and then she was going to go over there and drive them all on election day before going to work in the afternoon.
She also said she had blood clots in her lungs and because she worked in a factory job without insurance making generators, she had $80,000 in medical bills she had to pay.
- breakfast strata (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) for breakfast.
- 20lbs of Italian beef and chili (with 40lbs of ground beef) for lunch.
- a crockpot of vegetarian chili for dinner, along with an OBAMA carrot cake that had the campaign logo in red, white, and blue frosting.
They have hospitality like no other there. I thanked all of the local Democratic Party people profusely.
The one older (heavyset) (white) lady who had had a beer on the porch with (black) voters in a (bad) neighborhood back in 2008 when she did canvassing was very upset during lunch, b/c the Italian beef ran out and she didn't know that chili was coming.
"I just feel so awful," she was like. "There's all these people here, what are they going to eat?".
I asked her if I should run to the grocery store and get pre-made subs like they served a few weeks ago, and we started to figure that out (money, how I would get there, etc.), but then luckily the chili came.
8) That same lady was talking with the county treasurer about election night.
"I just can't wait for this to all be over," she was like.
"You gonna need someone to drive you home like last time?", the treasure asked her.
"Oh yeah," she was like, "I'm going to get messed up."
9) One (mid-30s) (black) woman with a piercing through the skin below her lower lip mentioned her girlfriend, so I made sure to tell her that Tammy Baldwin was a lesbian.
"I didn't know that," she was like. "They should know that down at [name of the local gay club]!"
Then she added, "I'd get with her."
She also said a bunch of her family was just plain lazy and never voted, even though they were on food stamps and stuff, so we strategized on how we could get them to the polls on election day. We went through same-day registration stuff together, then she was going to hop online to figure out where their precinct was, and then she was going to go over there and drive them all on election day before going to work in the afternoon.
She also said she had blood clots in her lungs and because she worked in a factory job without insurance making generators, she had $80,000 in medical bills she had to pay.
Addendum.
4) One guy was out smoking on the porch, this scrawny (white) guy in his late 30s who looked like a recovering drug addict.
The walk list said "do not knock", which meant that it was either someone who had refused or was a Romney supporter, but I said hi anyways and he was a bit chatty so we talked some.
As it turns out, his parents are Republican and he's always supported Republicans though he's never voted (?), but he's been looking at issues, and he thinks he's just not a Republican anymore because they're not for the working class.
"And that Ryan," he was like. "I just hate the guy."
So, we talked through issues - education (he's got kids), economy (Obama saved the auto industry and has supported building windmills in Iowa), social security and Medicare (the guy turned out to have aging parents) - and he was totally on board to vote for Obama and the local rep, but he was a bit hesitant about the senate race, because the former governor was running for the Republicans.
"Hey," I was like, "My family has voted for Republicans in the past, but that has party has changed. I don't know the details, but Tommy Thompson has changed too."
"Yeah, he was taking all that lobbying money," the guy was like.
I then told him about how Tammy Baldwin was raised by her grandparents "because her mom wasn't there for her" and had to take care of her grandma while she was dying, so she's personally invested in all the programs that seniors need, even Medicaid, which Thompson wants to cut but helps seniors afford nursing homes.
That sold him, and I got him info on same-day voter registration info, and then I asked about his wife.
"There's no talking with her," she was like. "She just gets irrational, she hates Obama so much. You can't even talk about anything, she just hates the man."
I said that was too bad because her vote affected their kids' futures in a bad way, and he agreed.
5) I accidentally did part of another route, and there were two (black) women in their mid-40s who were also volunteering who I had to straighten stuff out with.
We talked a lot about what an important election it was and other stuff, and the one said she just loved my enthusiasm.
When we left to go our separate ways, I made sure to fistbump both of them, and as I turned to leave, she called out, "Now you have a blessed day!".
6) When I had volunteered during the recall, there was this blonde high school student who was finishing her junior year and doing bad in government, so she took up her teacher's extra credit assignment to volunteer in the recall for the side of her choice and write a 1-page paper reflecting on her experience.
She was so put off by all the hubbub, but I said I'd show her what to do, so I gave her good training, and then because Tammy Baldwin and the local candidate for congress were there and giving remarks, I made sure to introduce her to them after their short speeches, and say she was a high school student about to go out on her 1st canvassing shift.
Both talked with her and were super nice, esp. Tammy Baldwin.
"That is so cool!", she was like, and it turns out she had a ball canvassing.
So, yesterday, I was in the campaign office like 5:15pm after my (long) 2nd walk pack, and I hear this voice, "Hey, [my name]!", and it turns out to be the high school girl.
Despite the fact that it's her senior year and she's in 5 AP classes, dance, and orchestra (and college applications, I'd guess?), she came out to give one afternoon to Obama and the other Dems.
I was just so happy, and she was next to some older (white) woman who I introduced herself to thinking it was her mother or something, only to find out it was some random volunteer who walked in at the same time and wasn't sure what to do - and my high school student took her under her wing, trained her, and went out to do a route with her.
Oddly, Tammy Baldwin and the Democratic rep candidate had popped in to the office before 3pm that same day, so her 1st-time canvassing partner got to hear them speak too!
It was very satisfying, to see history repeat itself, and a very nice high schooler giving time for a cause she believes in.
The walk list said "do not knock", which meant that it was either someone who had refused or was a Romney supporter, but I said hi anyways and he was a bit chatty so we talked some.
As it turns out, his parents are Republican and he's always supported Republicans though he's never voted (?), but he's been looking at issues, and he thinks he's just not a Republican anymore because they're not for the working class.
"And that Ryan," he was like. "I just hate the guy."
So, we talked through issues - education (he's got kids), economy (Obama saved the auto industry and has supported building windmills in Iowa), social security and Medicare (the guy turned out to have aging parents) - and he was totally on board to vote for Obama and the local rep, but he was a bit hesitant about the senate race, because the former governor was running for the Republicans.
"Hey," I was like, "My family has voted for Republicans in the past, but that has party has changed. I don't know the details, but Tommy Thompson has changed too."
"Yeah, he was taking all that lobbying money," the guy was like.
I then told him about how Tammy Baldwin was raised by her grandparents "because her mom wasn't there for her" and had to take care of her grandma while she was dying, so she's personally invested in all the programs that seniors need, even Medicaid, which Thompson wants to cut but helps seniors afford nursing homes.
That sold him, and I got him info on same-day voter registration info, and then I asked about his wife.
"There's no talking with her," she was like. "She just gets irrational, she hates Obama so much. You can't even talk about anything, she just hates the man."
I said that was too bad because her vote affected their kids' futures in a bad way, and he agreed.
5) I accidentally did part of another route, and there were two (black) women in their mid-40s who were also volunteering who I had to straighten stuff out with.
We talked a lot about what an important election it was and other stuff, and the one said she just loved my enthusiasm.
When we left to go our separate ways, I made sure to fistbump both of them, and as I turned to leave, she called out, "Now you have a blessed day!".
6) When I had volunteered during the recall, there was this blonde high school student who was finishing her junior year and doing bad in government, so she took up her teacher's extra credit assignment to volunteer in the recall for the side of her choice and write a 1-page paper reflecting on her experience.
She was so put off by all the hubbub, but I said I'd show her what to do, so I gave her good training, and then because Tammy Baldwin and the local candidate for congress were there and giving remarks, I made sure to introduce her to them after their short speeches, and say she was a high school student about to go out on her 1st canvassing shift.
Both talked with her and were super nice, esp. Tammy Baldwin.
"That is so cool!", she was like, and it turns out she had a ball canvassing.
So, yesterday, I was in the campaign office like 5:15pm after my (long) 2nd walk pack, and I hear this voice, "Hey, [my name]!", and it turns out to be the high school girl.
Despite the fact that it's her senior year and she's in 5 AP classes, dance, and orchestra (and college applications, I'd guess?), she came out to give one afternoon to Obama and the other Dems.
I was just so happy, and she was next to some older (white) woman who I introduced herself to thinking it was her mother or something, only to find out it was some random volunteer who walked in at the same time and wasn't sure what to do - and my high school student took her under her wing, trained her, and went out to do a route with her.
Oddly, Tammy Baldwin and the Democratic rep candidate had popped in to the office before 3pm that same day, so her 1st-time canvassing partner got to hear them speak too!
It was very satisfying, to see history repeat itself, and a very nice high schooler giving time for a cause she believes in.
Saturday volunteering in Wisc.
Here goes:
1) The central Obama campaign is giving election night party credentials for downtown Chicago (party this year is at McCormick convention center, not Grant Park) if anyone volunteered in Wisconsin or Iowa. 2 Saturdays ago, 17 volunteers came up from Chi, last Sat. about 60, this past Sat. -- I would say about 200-300.
The canvassing for the entire city where I was got covered once on the morning shift, and again on the afternoon shift.
A lot of other cities near the border were similarly flooded with volunteers, and rumor that busses were leaving to Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay.
2) I ran across a couple hispanic households, where people weren't citizens but had Obama signs up. In one, the lady has been here on a green card forever, but her daughter is a citizen and can vote.
"She lives in Nevada," she told me. "I keep telling her to vote for me! Don't worry, she'll be voting."
At another place, this (short) (young) (Mexican) guy with a moustache and goatee biked up, and I talked with him a bit...
Turns out he was only 16.
"But you have a moustache!", I was like, and at that he stroked his beard and laughed.
He didn't have that good English, he said, but he said his parents was worse.
I asked, and no-one in his house was citizens... There were several doors to the house and I was wondering if it was a house that had been split up into apartments (there's a lot of those type of houses in the city), but he was like, "No, this house, it is all my family."
"Even there?", I was like, and pointed to a door where there was an Obama-Biden logo cut out from same paper and taped to the glass on the upper part of the outer door.
"Yes, that is us," he was like. "We all love Obama, but we can't vote."
3) One (middle-aged) (white) woman who lived by the railroad tracks was heading in from her car when I went around with a clipboard, so I called out to her and was like, "Hi, I'm going door-to-door for the Obama campaign...", and at that she held out her hand and was like, "Oh no, I'm voting the other way."
Usually you just say thanks and leave, but I was like, "You know, if Romney gets in office, your taxes will probably go up like $2000/year so he can give tax cuts to the mega-rich who aren't already paying their fair share."
At that, she said in a passive-aggressive and mock good-natured way, "You know, if Obama gets elected, illegals will continue to take our jobs."
So much hate.
1) The central Obama campaign is giving election night party credentials for downtown Chicago (party this year is at McCormick convention center, not Grant Park) if anyone volunteered in Wisconsin or Iowa. 2 Saturdays ago, 17 volunteers came up from Chi, last Sat. about 60, this past Sat. -- I would say about 200-300.
The canvassing for the entire city where I was got covered once on the morning shift, and again on the afternoon shift.
A lot of other cities near the border were similarly flooded with volunteers, and rumor that busses were leaving to Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay.
2) I ran across a couple hispanic households, where people weren't citizens but had Obama signs up. In one, the lady has been here on a green card forever, but her daughter is a citizen and can vote.
"She lives in Nevada," she told me. "I keep telling her to vote for me! Don't worry, she'll be voting."
At another place, this (short) (young) (Mexican) guy with a moustache and goatee biked up, and I talked with him a bit...
Turns out he was only 16.
"But you have a moustache!", I was like, and at that he stroked his beard and laughed.
He didn't have that good English, he said, but he said his parents was worse.
I asked, and no-one in his house was citizens... There were several doors to the house and I was wondering if it was a house that had been split up into apartments (there's a lot of those type of houses in the city), but he was like, "No, this house, it is all my family."
"Even there?", I was like, and pointed to a door where there was an Obama-Biden logo cut out from same paper and taped to the glass on the upper part of the outer door.
"Yes, that is us," he was like. "We all love Obama, but we can't vote."
3) One (middle-aged) (white) woman who lived by the railroad tracks was heading in from her car when I went around with a clipboard, so I called out to her and was like, "Hi, I'm going door-to-door for the Obama campaign...", and at that she held out her hand and was like, "Oh no, I'm voting the other way."
Usually you just say thanks and leave, but I was like, "You know, if Romney gets in office, your taxes will probably go up like $2000/year so he can give tax cuts to the mega-rich who aren't already paying their fair share."
At that, she said in a passive-aggressive and mock good-natured way, "You know, if Obama gets elected, illegals will continue to take our jobs."
So much hate.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Dream (1 of 2): Biking.
I had a dream the other night -
There was a boardwalk with chainlink fences on each side going through a salt marsh.
The boardwalk would gradually vary in width for no perceptible reason, sometimes being wide enough for 3-4 people walking abreast, sometimes for only 2.
It was empty, but as I biked ahead, there was a young mom on a bicycle, and she had this little sidecar with a toddler in it.
As I approached her, she got into this uphill stretch where the path was narrowing, and she turned around and said I could pass her later, and so I was forced to follow behind her as she pedalled very slowly.
I got slightly annoyed, and then -
I woke up.
There was a boardwalk with chainlink fences on each side going through a salt marsh.
The boardwalk would gradually vary in width for no perceptible reason, sometimes being wide enough for 3-4 people walking abreast, sometimes for only 2.
It was empty, but as I biked ahead, there was a young mom on a bicycle, and she had this little sidecar with a toddler in it.
As I approached her, she got into this uphill stretch where the path was narrowing, and she turned around and said I could pass her later, and so I was forced to follow behind her as she pedalled very slowly.
I got slightly annoyed, and then -
I woke up.
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