"I know all about it," he says, walking past me.
I'm spending the morning in a big box store parking lot, trying to inform voters about upcoming changes in state election law: I've got a few bits of literature to offer and a clipboard with forms, for anyone who wants to update their voter registration
A fast coherent approach is the only thing that works
I swoop in and make my proffer, trying to get close enough without getting too close, speaking loudly enough to be heard from a comfortable distance without shouting or seeming too insistent
It's a crap shoot: some want my handouts and some don't
"Would you like some information on changes in the election rules?" I ask one young man
"I know all about it," he says, walking past me
I wish him a good afternoon
He takes a few more steps and then turns back
"Wait! What changes in the election rules?"
I provide a sentence or two. No, he didn't know that. He takes my brochure and postcard. I offer another sentence or two and then ask if his voter registration is current. He says it is. So I again wish him a pleasant afternoon and let him go his way
The instinct to assume nobody else could possibly tell us anything we don't already know -- or perhaps the reflex to claim we know things that we don't actually know -- is very common
But by the end of my shift, I've heard quite a number of people thank me, saying they hadn't known what I'd just told them
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You remind us all that everyday is a "struggle for progress." If your state has changed election laws, aren't they obligated to inform the citizens of those changes? What you are educating your community of should have been mailed to every resident in the state, but if you're in a red state, they probably weren't? Again, thank you for what you are doing! Tell us more about all this if you care to. Are others doing the same thing along with you, but at other sites? 
... it's great to know they let you carry on. 
As a kid, I wanted to be a writer but I later had too many other interests
Then, here at DU, years ago, somebody pointed out little tiny stories as a literary genre -- and it finally occurred to me that I earned a little tiny story almost every time I knocked doors or dialed phones or worked the street: I have to watch or listen carefully, and at the same time I have to notice what I'm doing myself, because otherwise I'd make the same mistakes over and over without learning
I think quite a lot happens in these miniature interactions: I have to regard strangers seriously and treat them with respect; I have to defer to their wishes if they prefer not to talk to me; I can't react defensively if I think they treat me rudely -- there's an invisible drama of my emotion and intellect, and another invisible drama of the stranger's emotion and intellect, all hidden behind the audible and visible dynamic
And, of course, I hoping here and there a reader may be encouraged to try some similar volunteer work
Last edited Sun Mar 9, 2014, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)
What state is this? I'm just curious. So many states are making changes to election law that it's hard to keep up.
When I first began voting (the Reagan years) and throughout college I was a Republican. I offer no excuse except that that's what my dad was, and I didn't pay nearly enough attention to current events back then. When I moved to California after college and began paying attention I realized that up until then I had been part of the problem.
I was at the grocery store one day, and a lady with a clipboard walked up to me and asked if I wanted to register with the Democratic party. Reflexively, I almost said "No thanks" or "In a hurry" or some other well-practiced response, but I stopped myself. I thought for a second, and said "Yeah. I think I would."
So, thanks for your efforts. I'm sure you have to deal with a lot of "No thanks" or "I know all about it" brush offs, but I also know that you can sometimes be the turning point in someone's way of thinking about things
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