I was sitting on the sidewalk finishing up my paperwork for the night. At the end of the street, I noticed a group of young people (11-12 years old) walking toward me. As they passed, one of the young girls said, “What are you doing?” I replied, “I’m working. What are you doing?” After we exchanged small talk, they began asking more questions about the nature of our work. I said, “We’re fighting so that people like you and your grandparents can afford to go to the doctor.”
One of the little girls saw the health care petition on my clipboard and asked me about it. I explained that it was a petition; then told her that two 8-year olds had signed my petition earlier and that they could sign it too. They ripped it from my hands, gathered in a circle on the sidewalk and began filling out the bandage stickers.
I told them that they could do this kind of work too. One of the young boys spoke up and said, “I would tie myself to a tree to fight for something.” So, I responded, “Well, what would you fight for?” He said, “I’d fight for the trees. I like trees.” I told him that there are environmental groups who do that kind of work everyday. I asked another young lady what she would fight for and she said, “I’d fight for the rainforest.”
They eventually got distracted and ran off. But my sincerest hope is that the seeds of activism have been planted and that one day, I’ll answer my door and see one of these kids advocating for a better America.
Today is my observation day. One of the gentlemen I talked to left me with a feeling of accomplishment. When I spoke to him about outsourcing of jobs, he seemed to get sad. He explained that he had lost his manufacturing job and has yet to get back on his feet. By the time I got finished explaining things, he was fired up and ready to go! He signed up as a member with a smile and thanked me for doing this kind of work.
It was the first day of sweat-breaking heat in Dayton, Ohio. The weather was hot in Dayton’s working class west side, but my efforts were not futile. I met a diverse group of people. Prior to my interaction, my night as a trainee was not going as planned, but the influence of my contacts, and their expressed need for change, strengthened my need to push on.
Along my journey I met a nurse who works with veterans. She refuses to leave veterans behind for a higher paying job in England. Her passion reminded me of why I was doing the job I was doing, and how important it is to press on for better health care. The next woman I met had watched me all down the street. She seemed tired as she shared her disgruntled feelings about health care, as she was a diabetic with no health insurance. My heart broke when she mentioned it. I am so proud to be a part of Working America. The TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW! The need for change is ever present! We are the change!
We’ve all had those nights where we feel like it cannot get any better. It could be a matter of the weather or you may have worn the wrong shoes on turf.
A few days ago I was having one of these nights. My favorite click-y Sharpie stopped working and my targeting was way off. That was until I met a mother and daughter living in Thornton, Colorado. The daughter really inspired me, because her mom signed up and wanted to becoming a dues paying member. Her daughter went to her room and brought back an extra five dollars of her own to add to her mom’s dues payment. From that moment my night changed and it enabled me to have a new outlook on my canvassing that evening.
It’s a nice spring day in Swoyersville, a small community devastated by job loss. I walk up to an older couple who are sitting on their front porch enjoying the sun. I began talking to them about the jobs that had been outsourced from the area. The couple both got up and said, “Son, hand over that clipboard and let us join the fight!”
After they signed up, the husband told me that his son had a job that sent him to school and paid half his tuition, so that he could work for them. Their son graduated from school only to find that the business was moving their operation to Mexico! This guy thanked me for the work I was doing and told me that if anyone on the block gave me a problem to tell them that Mark said to sign up.
One day I came across a man who almost immediately invited me in. He had been outsourced himself and had to take a one third cut in income. As he signed up we talked and he let me know his wife had just died of cancer. He eagerly signed a band aid sticker to fix health care. When I asked him for a dues payment of $5 he promptly gave it to me. I like to think in these trying times I brought a ray of hope to him.
A veteran from the war in Vietnam brought to my attention the correlation between the treatment of soldiers back then and today. I became aware of the large volume of soldiers that come home from Iraq to face inadequate health care, debt, and life without a job. What an injustice to the people who serve our country! The man was eager to sign up as a member and also asked about volunteer opportunities.
“I remember you!” the young man said as he opened the screen door and stepped out on his front porch to greet me. I remembered him, too, from my first time getting involved with Working America in 2006.
“Yeah, you came by with another guy to endorse Jason Altmire for Congress. I wasn’t too involved, but you convinced me.”
It was all very new to me at the time of those pre-election evenings, but it felt so very vital. Almost 2 years later, I saw the results of those nights, now walking the same streets with Sharpie-covered hands and shooting out more words a night than most folks go through in a week.
“I’m very happy with Jason Altmire and think it’s really cool that you are doing this.”
The idea of being able to influence reality in some beneficial way is what motivates our minds and muscles to do things that matter.
“Thank you,” I told him as he took my clipboard and renewed his membership with Working America. It’s the perpetual head click that hits with absolute certainty that this is a part of Working America in action.
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the statistics we hear everyday about disappearing jobs, the declining value of the dollar and the spider web cracks showing up in our debt-ridden society. We hear and study these things everyday….have concrete examples given at some households we visit, see them in the eyes of the people who we encounter. It can be easy to see the world through this prism, that we are staring and possibly have already started to slip into the abyss as a country. But if we carry this to the door, we lose the enthusiasm of the people we are talking to and they won’t join.
Sometimes we must remind ourselves that we represent the hope for the people we meet. If we do not believe, deep in our hearts, that our country is better than this, then we cannot make the skeptics believe…and that is our true mission. We have the true believers on our side already. We need to sway those that are starting to feel the dichotomy between how “wonderful” the economy had been and what they have been feeling and seeing for the past twelve or more years. For them, it is our belief in the power of people over money and our being able to infect them with the same mindset that gets change accomplished…something us canvassers must never forget.
I was sitting on the sidewalk finishing up my paperwork for the night. At the end of the street, I noticed a group of young people (11-12 years old) walking toward me. As they passed, one of the young girls said, “What are you doing?” I replied, “I’m working. What are you doing?” After we exchanged small talk, they began asking more questions about the nature of our work. I said, “We’re fighting so that people like you and your grandparents can afford to go to the doctor.”
It’s a nice spring day in Swoyersville, a small community devastated by job loss. I walk up to an older couple who are sitting on their front porch enjoying the sun. I began talking to them about the jobs that had been outsourced from the area. The couple both got up and said, “Son, hand over that clipboard and let us join the fight!”
One day I came across a man who almost immediately invited me in. He had been outsourced himself and had to take a one third cut in income. As he 
A veteran from the war in Vietnam brought to my attention the correlation between the treatment of soldiers back then and today. I became aware of the large volume of soldiers that come home from Iraq to face inadequate health care, debt, and life without a job. What an injustice to the people who serve our country! The man was eager to 
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the statistics we hear everyday about disappearing jobs, the declining value of the dollar and the spider web cracks showing up in our debt-ridden society. We hear and study these things everyday….have concrete examples given at some households we visit, see them in the eyes of the people who we encounter. It can be easy to see the world through this prism, that we are staring and possibly have already started to slip into the abyss as a country. But if we carry this to the door, we lose the enthusiasm of the people we are talking to and they won’t join.
