Week 2:
Week 2 for the Greenville team kept both Brittany and I in CHECK as we completed three days of some intense phoneBANKing. Brittany is a pro on the phone though, she was able to get through almost 70 callers a day while my slow self barely completed 50 calls. We both decided it was because I leave super long and informative messages on people’s answering machines: I’m sure many have missed the start of their favorite tv show waiting and praying for my message to end. But, we pushed through the three days of “Hello, My name is…” and managed to get through our C-list of callers (Kathy Griffith would be proud) and we’ll start on the coveted B-list on our next phone bank.
The rest of the week was spent preparing for our house party we are planning to hold in late July here in Greenville (we’ll be like the PINK ladies as we “get this party started”), contacting Eastern North Carolina’s congressmen and women for meetings on June 17 (We LOBBIED hard for about 5 scheduled meetings we already have for that day), and trying to plan some speaking engagements for the rest of the month.
But the big event of the week was our presentation about Voter-owned elections and the Public Municipal Campaign bill at the Greenville Town Council Meeting on Thursday June 11. Brittany and I spoke during the public comment section of the meeting where residents are allowed three minutes to address the council about any issue they choose so long as it is not related to the public hearing issues discussed at the town council meeting.
Brittany, Tia and I arrived to the meeting early and pumped and ready to address the council only to find that the public comment meeting was AFTER the public hearing session, so we ended up waiting for about an hour and a half of the council arguing about the extent to which they should follow code enforcement just for our three minute spiel. And all that while those nerves and excitement were stirring in the pit of my stomach.
[INSERT RANDOM TANGENT]
This is SUCH a “pay-it-forward moment” that I have to interject during our week to tell it. So, our first week, after work, Tia, Brittany, and I went to a starbucks on 10th street here in Greenville. Every week the starbucks has a contest where they have a quote from a movie and if you guess what movie the quote came from, you get a free tall drink. By the time we saw the quote, all three of us had already gotten a drink but Tia and I were curious about where the quote came from, so we looked it up on her blackberry. When we found the answer, I went to the barista and asked for a “delay of drink” so I could come back later and get a drink because I knew the movie of the quote.
Unfortunately, she said she had to make the drink then. Well, I thought, I just had a coffee and I don’t want another, so whatever. But, at that moment a man was getting ready to order and I thought, “this is my pay-it-forward moment: I’ll let him get a drink for free and I’ll feel so much like Haley Joel Osmond that maybe I’ll see dead people when I finally meet Bruce Willis.”
So, I asked the man if he wanted a free drink and told him about the movie quote and the free drink, etc. Now, this man was nicely dressed in his collared shirt and tie, holding his computer-bag briefcase, and was clearly some sort of professional grabbing a cup-of-joe after work and he insisted on paying me for the drink that he got for free. I was so surprised by that but I immediately refused to have him pay me for doing nothing at all and I went back to Tia and Brittany. haha, both the girls told me later they thought he thought I was homeless because they saw him trying to give me money!!
As the man was leaving, the barista called me back over and handed me a gift card she told me the man with the briefcase had left me. The whole event left me in awe because it really was an example of two people doing something really nice for each other, which is a breath of fresh air in a world of anger.
ANYWAY, to come full circle if you will, the irony is that as Brittany and I were walking into the town council chamber, no other than the briefcase man himself walked in, sat down in front of us, and pulled out his laptop. I was freaking out: “ohmygod, that’s my pay-it-foward pal,” “do you think he recognizes me??”
Sadly, he didn’t. But, I recognized him and it just reminded me again that there is a little goodness left in this cynical world.
[END RANDOM TANGENT]
But, it was worth the wait when Brittany and I finally got to have our “3 minutes of fame.” We confidently, boldly, and successfully told the town council about the legislation we are pushing, expanding voter-owned elecitons, and garnering support for a fairer and cleaner democracy. PLUS: we were on TV. Beat that other teams!
Well, it was definitely an exciting week (again!) and I will keep you all updated! Thanks for reading!
– Katy Koesy
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