Hard night out

by Lynne Bolton—Minnesota

My name is Lynne and I’m a 41 year old canvasser out of Minneapolis in my second week of training. I took this job in part because I had been laid off, but also because after 20 years of being in the work force, I wanted my work to mean something.

Winter canvassing is hard. For the first time in years, we’ve been having a real Minnesota winter. That means below zero temperatures and winds that gust hard enough to scour the snow off the ground and blow it in your face and down your neck no matter how bundled up you are. Add that to the big dogs, the dark and the people that say “I hate unions” and slam the door in your face, well, some nights this feels like a Sisyphusean enterprise.

Last night was one of those. I had some really difficult turf, and found myself getting frustrated, wanting to give up. But this morning as I was thinking about the past two weeks, I realized I can’t do that.

As difficult as last night was, as hard as it was to get people to sign up, we still made a difference. Because all those people I talked to saw and heard something they hadn’t seen in a while: they saw a person out there talking and fighting. Fighting for kids, fighting for workers, fighting for them. And in the back of their minds, when they hear about health care costs rising or education funds being cut, they’ll remember we’re out here.

And I’ll remember that too, tonight when I go back out on that turf. Because change that starts small grows strong.

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