Use your power for good
Last week, I went to a protest at the VA. On the sidewalk next to me, shivering in the cold, was an older woman with a walker, her oxygen tank, and her little dog.
“I have never been to a protest before,” she said. “But the VA took such good care of my father. I want to stand up for the employees.”
There was another older woman. She had a peace sign and a dove button on her hat.
“I am guessing this is not your first protest,” I said to her.
She laughed. “No. I have been protesting for over 50 years. We stopped a war.”
It’s hard for the opposition to characterize a protest as nothing but paid, violent radicals when there are little old ladies with walkers and oxygen tanks.
And when the local TV station came looking for someone to interview, the experienced protester knew just how to talk to them.
I have been knocking on doors, canvassing for Susan Crawford. This is actually not a waste of time. I talk to people every day who didn’t know about the election or don’t know about the candidates.
I’m always shocked when someone actually opens the door to me and even more shocked when people invite me into their home.
I never answer the door to strangers! And I would certainly never invite a stranger into my house.
But – as one woman told me, when I startled her by knocking at dusk (she was the last house on my list and I just wanted to finish the list, but usually, I only knock during daylight hours), I look safe.
I look safe, which means people will literally open their doors to me.
On Saturday, I canvassed with a friend. She’s in her late 30s. Adorable. She showed up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt that says “Love Wins,” the campaign slogan of an amazing legislator in our area, and her hair tied back.
“I didn’t dress up,” she shrugged. “I figured people are more likely to open their doors to someone who looks normal and not threatening.”
It’s not just that we and I look safe – it’s that we look trustworthy.
Which is why, within the space of 24 hours, not one but two women told me the stories of how loved ones had died in the past few years and how awful it’s been.
One woman lost her adult twin daughters to diabetes 18 months ago.
The other lost her 66 year old husband to a heart attack three years ago.
What do you even say when people tell you such precious, intimate stories about themselves?
There are the (rare) people who have told me that nope, they will not vote for my candidate, including a 54 year old white woman in my neighborhood.
I wanted to ask her, “What happens when your granddaughter needs an abortion and can’t get one? When she’s raped? Or has a pregnancy complication requiring an abortion for her survival? What happens when democracy disappears?”
An older man told me he wouldn’t vote for “the evil” Susan Crawford.
But I don’t bother. I’m not going to convince them. I say thanks, mark them on my list as not supporting the candidate (and hope they are never included in another canvass list again), and move on.
If you are a woman of a certain age, you can use your power for good.
Knock on doors. People will talk to you.
Go to protests. It would be super bad press for the cops to beat up on you.
Let’s use our apparent harmlessness to our democracy’s benefit.
Texan in Exile 