Uncomfortable Situation

Fulfilling the promise I made when the Barack Obama headquarters opened here, I volunteered yesterday morning to make some phone calls. I think I've written before that I'm not really sure if political phone calls do any good, and I know I don't really care for them, but I wanted to do my part.

It should be no surprise to most of you that Barack isn't super popular where I live. If you're young and registered as a Democrat he is the favorite, but those who are young and registered Democrats are far and few between here. So I wasn't really shocked that most of the people I talked to weren't supporters, but their rudeness did surprise me.

I get hating telemarketers. I do too. Even so, I usually say "I'm not interested, thank you," and hang up. It's short, maybe snippy, but not mean. And, I'd like to point out that I would expected a different response to a telemarketer than to a campaign volunteer, though from my experience yesterday, that's not the case.

I was given a raft of senior citizens to call, and told that if I called anyone who was deceased, I'd get a free soda. The organizer shrugged her shoulders and said "it breaks up the day." I had a script, a list of names, and an elaborate coding system about the talk itself (refused to talk, call back, wrong number), and their presidential preferences (strong Obama, lean Obama, Clinton, Undecided). Most of my first calls were answering machines, and one nice, nice lady who had voted Republican her whole life and was now voting for Barack at age 68. She emphasized the 68 and told me her whole family was voting for him this time. I joked with her, and asked if she would speak to my family.

Another lady was undecided. She asked me how much I know about Barack, and I asked her if I could share my reasons for voting for him. She listened, then asked where he stands on abortion. I have no idea what her opinions on the topic were, but I tried to explain how I see him being pro-life in a lot of ways other than abortion.

After that, the people got mean. I called one house, and a woman answered. A man's name was on my list, so I asked for him. The woman yelled for him, and I heard him ask who it was. She replied "Your girlfriend." When I told him I was a volunteer for Barack Obama's campaign, he hung up on me. Some boyfriend.

Another lady thought that I was probably calling for her husband from the doctor's office (on a Saturday morning?) and some guy told me "I don't wanna talk, lady, I just woke up." I wanted to tell him he shouldn't have answered the phone then, but I didn't.

There was one response I got a few times, and it cracked me up. The script went like this: "Hi! my name is Bridget and I'm a volunteer with the Barack Obama campaign. How are you doing this morning?" I didn't have to read this part, and tried to sound genuinely interested.

The most common response to "How are you this morning?" was "I'm a Republican." I would say "Great, and do you know who you'll be voting for in this election?" and then they would say "I'm a Republican."

There seems to be a rule in play here that I did not know about. Republicans in South Dakota are not allowed to speak to Democrats, even if it's only to answer the question "How are you this morning?" They also must answer all questions asked by a Democrat with the words "I'm a Republican."

I grew up here, or near here, and I suppose I should have expected that response. I had hoped, however, that this election might not be so polarizing, or maybe those are just the Obama glasses I'm wearing. Regardless, I'm glad I called, and I may go and do some more again. Watch out Republicans, we just might ask you how you are.

PS: Having made these phone calls made me react much more kindly to the Nextel guy I ran into in the mall. He stopped me by saying "Hey miss, smile." I did, and he tried to be flattering...He said something like "wow, all redheads look good in green. What company do you have?" I said Verizon, and then he wowed me with incredible logic--he said "Hey, why don't you switch? I bet the Verizon guys don't tell you that you look good. I know they don't, switch to Nextel." I laughed and walked away.

This has been making me want to shout expletives all day long:

Good thing I got the grill and patio furniture out last week.

The Big Give

Has anyone else seen Oprah's Big Give? I have to say, I've only watched the first episode in its entirety. I do TiVo the Oprah show every day though, and she's spent a fair amount of time recapping the episodes, and talking with the "losers." Though these segments aren't as annoying as her constant yapping about the New Earth, I can't say I care for it.

I love shows like Extreme Home Makeover, but for some reason The Big Give makes me kind of angry. I think it's supposed to be a show about generosity, and giving back, but from what I've seen it seems more like a sales and marketing competition. The contestants run around, piling up more and more money, hoping to give away the most. Although some weight is given to what people need, the contestants seem to be judged on how much they give, not what they give and why.

Like I said, I've only seen one whole episode, so maybe I'm missing something. But to me, it looks like an exercise in being the best money hustler, and the giving is sort of a by-product of the amassing of cash. That just doesn't sit right.

Eventful

The blog has been quiet the last couple of weeks, but not for lack of activity. Last week I had a colonoscopy, which wasn't fun, but necessary. I hesitate to even say anything about it, but decided that medical tests shouldn't be embarrassing, despite where things take place. The results of the test were once again evil bacteria, and even more evil medication to kill said bacteria. So this week has been mostly focusing on not vomiting or becoming so nauseated I believe I will vomit. I should say that peppermint gum works wonders, as does anti-nausea medication, though the pills are more expensive than gum at nearly $600 a bottle (thank you, insurance!).

I also went and heard/saw Kathleen Norris speak. I was super excited about the event, the culmination of a college's day of learning in community. Though she wasn't as inspiring a speaker as I had hoped, I appreciated her speech about stability and change, and I'm now particularly interested in reading her new book about acedia. I'd never heard of acedia before, but it's apparently one of a group of ancient "bad thoughts," if I have it correct. I'm sorry I missed her morning talk, because as the girls behind me described she read a lot of poetry and talked about Brokeback Mountain. What I was not impressed with was the girl sitting near me who snapped her gum throughout the whole talk.

More inspiring, in a different way, was the opening of Obama headquarters here in Sioux Falls. It was an interesting event because as we stood listening to the SD campaign leader speak, everyone was looking around, seemingly surprised to see so many Democrats gathered in one room in South Dakota. From the looks of it, I was not the only one who hadn't seen anything like this before. Barack wasn't there, but the leader guy asked if some people wanted to share why they were at the opening, and why they were voting for Barack. One gentleman in particular was moving, talking about how the Native American people look toward the future, and that he was voting for Barack for his granddaughter whom he was holding.

Equally uninspiring was a few people spouting the usual jokes about how evil the Republicans are, and how graced we were to be Democrats, along with a high school student who went on and on about how Obama is his savior, his saving grace. But still, flawed and all, I'm hoping to volunteer for the campaign here, to get involved for once. Not that SD will probably really matter, but it's nice to feel like it might.

I am very much enjoying this episode of Speaking of Faith, titled "The Need for Creeds." One of the most interesting is this Maasai creed.

If Princess Pantaloons and Cow don't win the Humane Society calendar contest, Simone definitely should.

If you've got a dollar you want to burn, and you'd like to support me in becoming a full-fledged cat lady, click here to vote for my kittehs in the SF Humane Society calendar contest. Cat ladies unite!