Enjablog

Despite my hesitance to talk to strangers and unwillingness to wander around unfamiliar neighborhoods, I did both those things a few weekends ago.

I volunteer to do data entry for the Obama campaign most weekends. But this time, they asked me to stop by one of the canvassing meeting locations to pick up the data to be entered. I requested the location in Ian’s neighborhood, so I would at least know the area and get to see him when I passed through.

Ian signed up to canvass at 3 and 5 and invited me to join him for the 3 o’clock canvass before bringing in the packets at 5. Seemed reasonable enough. He told me he could use the help sorting papers and whatnot, assuring me that I wouldn’t have to talk to people. He would do the interacting. (Why did I believe that..?)

We ended up getting the worst route ever — clusters of houses along 9 different streets. The people we talked to were mostly polite though, which did make things more pleasant.

One woman supporting McCain said that we were the 3rd group to stop by her house that day, so with that much support, Obama better win. Another house, the husband came to the door and let us know they were watching the Ohio State game… and they’re voting for McCain anyway. Followed by the wife, who we actually had on our list, yelling from the other room, “I’M not!”

There were a couple Obama volunteers who came outside to chat for a few minutes. A few people who started pointing out houses on their block and telling us who was voting for whom. There were a few people who, jokingly, asked for childcare services so they could go vote.

All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was very pleased to hear how many people had already voted. Many of the people we were looking for weren’t home for school or military reasons, but the person at the door assured us that they had already mailed in their absentee ballots.

JOTD:
What’s red and smells like blue paint?
Red paint!