Okay, I had an interesting couple of weeks: I attempted doing a little cavass work for the Gifford Pinchot Task Force ( www.gptaskforce.org ). It's a great organization doing extremely noble work. The problem is that work requires going door to door and attempting to get people to listen to what you have to say and THEN write you a check to sign up for a membership. Honestly, considering my less than warm reception with door to door people in the past I'd imagine I should be surprised I got as many people to sign up as I did...I did okay. Others on that team do even better, with people routinely giving $50 to $100 at the door. That speaks well for some people I must say.
The downside? The people that listen and the people that give are about 1 in every 30 doors or so...inbetween those givers there can be some REAL S.O.B.'s, if I do say so myself. But the extreme S.O.B.'s aren't even the worst part; the worst part are the people who listen to what you say and then tell you that they appreciate what you are doing, keep it up, but they are not going to join anything like that ever. THOSE are the people who can suck the life right out of you...The final straw for me was a middle aged lady in a nice neighborhood with a brand new BMW in her driveway. She told me that it was her policy not to speak with anybody who comes to her door or calls on her phone for ANY reason; however, she likes what I'm doing and I should keep it up. She went on to add she wasn't going to listen to anything I had to say, but she appreciated me nonetheless......That was my last door as a canvasser. What sort of horse shit is THAT?!!!!
Although I'm no longer going to pound the pavement knocking on doors, what did I learn from this? I will NEVER be rude to somebody who has the courage to come knock on my door with a cause they consider worthy, I will buy candy bars from little kids on fundraisers, and I will even listen to the Mormons...(well, maybe I'll listen to the Mormons)
It's all hard work, and it takes incredible courage to do it. The next time somebody knocks on your door with a cause they want to tell you about, listen to them...if it sounds worthy, give them some money...even if it's just a few bucks. It's not about the money, it's about the courtesy, respect and common decency we should ALL have towards somebody who is working to try and make the planet a better place.
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