I'm speaking with a man who wants to be sure I'll talk with his neighbor too. His neighbor

[struggle4progress]

is not on my list, but I do have a name at that address

That's his grandson, the fellow tells me. He's a teenager!

I check my list. He's not a teenager anymore, sir. They grow up fast, don't they?

He agrees with that

I head for other houses around the cul-de-sac, and he wanders over to chat with his two neighbors, young and old, in their driveway

Finally, I'm at the address the fellow wanted me to hit. All three of them are there

I'm a volunteer for the Democratic Party. I'm looking for So-and-so, I say

What about his grandpa? asks the grandpa. Don't you care about me?

I guess we're pretty sure you'll vote, sir, I tell him We don't know about him

He calls his grandson over. I explain that it's an important election, offer him some lit, and hope he'll consider voting Democratic

The young man appreciates being taken seriously. His grandpa shakes my hand

[renate]

1. thanks so much!

It sounds like you're meeting nice people in addition to doing important work. :hug:

[struggle4progress]

2. Almost everyone is friendly and decent. Sometimes people are too busy to talk or

don't want any conversation for other reasons but they're usually nice about it, even the people who obviously won't be voting on my side of the ticket. From time to time, I encounter somebody who's having a bad day and blows a fuse, or maybe something else strange, but that's rather rare

[wellstone dem]

3. This story explains why I'd much rather door knock

than phone call.
Thank you for your work.

[struggle4progress]

4. Meeting people and talking with them is the heart of political action. I've always enjoyed

things like community educational events or tabling for issues, because it provides real interaction with and insight into the street. If between elections we had enough serious multi-issue activism, with plenty of contact with ordinary people, I think we'd kick ass and take names, not only in elections but on legislative and regulatory matters

[electricray]

5. I have been meaning to thank you so much for these, struggle

The hardest thing about knocking doors has always been getting past the irrational fear that we all have about what is on the other side of that door. These stories make me so proud to be on a board that counts you among it's members.

[struggle4progress]

6. The Mad Farmer Liberation Front (Wendell Berry)

Love the quick profit, the annual raise, and vacation with pay.
Want more of everything made.
Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery any more.
Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something they will call you.
When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute.
Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace the flag.
Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot understand.
Praise ignorance,
For what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium.
Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
That you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees
Every thousand years.
Listen to carrion–put your ear close,
And hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap for power,
Please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.
Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions
Of your mind, lose it.
Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn’t go.
Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
Some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.