posted by Etta Worthington
Saturday was a marvelous day. It was warm. It was sunny. People were out walking their dogs. It was a great time to be outdoors.
Diane Leamy and I were outdoors in LaGrange, IL, along with teams of other volunteers, canvassing for Marie Newman, who's running for Congress in the third Congressional District.
Things were going well. Diane had her script in hand and was taking the main talker role, and I had my clipboard and also my iPad, complete with the Minivan app so I could record all responses to our canvass and have that feed directly back to the campaign. Hi-tech canvassing.
It was generally a good day and only one person glowered at us and quickly pushed the door shut after Diane indicated we were canvassing for Marie Newman. Most people were either Marie backers, or leaning in that direction. Most people clearly wanted a Democrat in Congress who was a true Democrat, not like the current Representative (Lipinski), who is often described as a Democrat in Republican's clothing.
Things were going well. We were enjoying the day. My Fitbit was happy (yes, I did get in 10,000 steps without a problem).
And then we came to that house.
The porch was off to the side and we had to walk around the garage to get to the front porch, which was on a slab, at ground level. As we rounded the corner of the garage, Diane froze. I almost toppled into her. This is the conversation that ensued.
Diane: Isn't that a fox on the porch?
Etta: Yep.
Diane: Shall we just--
Etta: No. I'm afraid of cornering a wild animal.
Diane: Maybe I can scare it off.
(She claps her hands and the fox slithers into a small opening at one end of the porch and disappears under it. We step carefully up to the front door.)
Etta: (pointing to something furry on the ground) That's half of a rabbit.
(Diane is undaunted. She pounds on the door. A man appears and opens it.)
Diane: Hi, we're out this afternoon--Did you know there was a fox on your front porch, and that it hid underneath it?
(She points to the hole with its half-eaten rabbit carcass next to it.)
Man: Yes. Isn't he beautiful?
Diane didn't miss a beat then, and launched into the script. We learned that the man had not yet decided who he'd vote for. So I jumped in.
Etta: Did you know that the Sierra Club just endorsed Marie Newman and that it's the first time they have endorsed a Democrat running against an incumbent?
The man look interested. We left some literature and gingerly walked past the rabbit carcass on our way back to the sidewalk.
I marked the entry on the Minivan app. Undecided. However, on the paper record of the visit, I scribbled "fox under porch."
Do you have a canvassing tale?
Saturday was a marvelous day. It was warm. It was sunny. People were out walking their dogs. It was a great time to be outdoors.
Diane Leamy and I were outdoors in LaGrange, IL, along with teams of other volunteers, canvassing for Marie Newman, who's running for Congress in the third Congressional District.
It was generally a good day and only one person glowered at us and quickly pushed the door shut after Diane indicated we were canvassing for Marie Newman. Most people were either Marie backers, or leaning in that direction. Most people clearly wanted a Democrat in Congress who was a true Democrat, not like the current Representative (Lipinski), who is often described as a Democrat in Republican's clothing.
Things were going well. We were enjoying the day. My Fitbit was happy (yes, I did get in 10,000 steps without a problem).
And then we came to that house.
The porch was off to the side and we had to walk around the garage to get to the front porch, which was on a slab, at ground level. As we rounded the corner of the garage, Diane froze. I almost toppled into her. This is the conversation that ensued.
Diane: Isn't that a fox on the porch?
Etta: Yep.
Diane: Shall we just--
Etta: No. I'm afraid of cornering a wild animal.
Diane: Maybe I can scare it off.
(She claps her hands and the fox slithers into a small opening at one end of the porch and disappears under it. We step carefully up to the front door.)
Etta: (pointing to something furry on the ground) That's half of a rabbit.
(Diane is undaunted. She pounds on the door. A man appears and opens it.)
Diane: Hi, we're out this afternoon--Did you know there was a fox on your front porch, and that it hid underneath it?
(She points to the hole with its half-eaten rabbit carcass next to it.)
Man: Yes. Isn't he beautiful?
Diane didn't miss a beat then, and launched into the script. We learned that the man had not yet decided who he'd vote for. So I jumped in.
Etta: Did you know that the Sierra Club just endorsed Marie Newman and that it's the first time they have endorsed a Democrat running against an incumbent?
The man look interested. We left some literature and gingerly walked past the rabbit carcass on our way back to the sidewalk.
I marked the entry on the Minivan app. Undecided. However, on the paper record of the visit, I scribbled "fox under porch."
Do you have a canvassing tale?
No comments:
Post a Comment