Now that we know Clean Water Action canvasses my neighborhood, perhaps I’ll have an annual post dedicated to my interactions with them. Because this year? This year was even better than last year.
Ring-ring. I answer the door this time. “Hi, I’m from Clean Water Action and we’re…” It’s a guy this time.
“Come on in. Can I get you something to drink, a Coke?” I think for a second. A Coke? What was I thinking, “Actually, can I get you a beer?” This man is no fool and he does not hesitate.
“I’m in your neighborhood with a canvassing partner. Can I go get him?”
“Absolutely.”
We were eating dinner, but as the religious canvassers of my youth used to say, “Your dinner can wait, your soul cannot.”
I bring them to the table. These guys are much easier to be nice to then the young woman last year – they take me up on my offers! They consider their beer choices and I fetch two kinds. We’re eating 7-layer bean dip for dinner so we share out the chips and salsa.
They settle in. We get to talking. The partner guy is new to canvassing and he’s your typical college student who works as a canvassers. The first guy? He’s a CANVASSER. This guy is so earthy crunchy cool that canvassing is just a natural extension of his life. We get to talking.
He has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. It’s 2,175 miles long. He did it in a single season. This is a tremendous accomplishment. He thought it was fun, so next he did the Pacific Crest Trail. He says ruefully that the laws of such things seem to say you do one or three, so he’ll probably end up on the North Country trail or the Continental Divide next. He says this casually, as if such hikes are just ordinary rather than profound physical, social and psychological achievements. He and Hubby get to talking about making stoves out of Coke cans. Hubby trekked in Nepal before we were married.
Next we move on to green architecture. He’s planning to build his own home on a commune-type place off the grid. I am so glad he knocked on my door so I could be nice to him.
So come on Clean Water, what will you have to offer me for 2010? It’s gonna have to be good to beat that.
Plum Librarian LLC 
So the real question is did you give them any money ; )
Sounds like you got some entertainment out of it- that’s got to be worth something.
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Of course I gave them a check! And listened attentively to the 2009 spiel! And signed all the petitions legibly! We conducted business over those beers.
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