Friday, May 30, 2008
Phone Tag
I am now playing phone tag with the police station after leaving my name and number. They had someone named Sergeant Washington call me today, but I had to let it go to voicemail because management frowns upon whipping out the CrackBerry in front of customers. I called him back after my shift but then got his voicemail, so I left a message asking him to call me back later. I'm now waiting on that call, and I'll try him again if it seems he forgot.
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5 comments:
Tag, you're it!
There's an easy way to avoid the "You're blocking the sidewalk" charge. Don't stop moving. Walk down the sidewalk on the right hand side, turn around at some arbitrary point, and walk down the sidewalk on the right hand side again. Repeat ad nauseum.
As long as other people can use the sidewalk, you are not "blocking" the sidewalk.
You are wasting your time talking to the police trying to get approval for what you want to do. Fuck that. Call up the dispatcher; tell her (it's almost invariably a her) who you are, inform her that the call is being recorded; tell her how to contact you, and tell her what you plan to do. Do this several days in advance. Tell her that if the police have a problem with it, to have their law director contact you directly. Apologize for the behavior of the assholes you are protesting for making the protest necessary. Ask her if there is anything you can do to make it easier on the police and public services.
If you are polite but insistent you tell her that you are aware of your civil rights, and your civic responsibility, and that you are not afraid of police involvement.
By asking if there is anything you can do for them, you strike first blood - Anything they ask for will either help you show that you are trying to comply with police instructions, or it will be an unreasonable request and a violation of your rights.
You might make the same call to local businesses, and even the target of your protests. Support the other businesses in the area - if they make money any time you protest, they are much less likely to complain about your protest.
The issue with this plan is that any attempt to stand or move in a short circuit around the area across the street from the Scientology bookstore now results in violent threats from one of the store owners and many obnoxious calls to the police, and we need to resolve this issue as well.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Another thing I'd like to say about this is that, if I were the store owners, I wouldn't bitch about the protesters' presence and try to drive them away, I'd try to sell to them. We've had what, thirty to fifty people there over the course of the day, and if they all bought just five or ten dollars worth of merchandise from each store, the loss in sales is made up for right there. And if I knew that a crowd of people that size would be protesting in front of my store every month, I'd milk it! I would acquire merchandise to sell that they would want to buy, and sell it to them. Maybe even file the necessary paperwork to sell chips and soda or something. With a little work, I could easily be making a lot more money on the days of protest than on the regular days. And that doesn't even count the people who would normally just walk right on by, but stop to take interest in the protest, read a flyer, talk to a protester, etc. If they stop when they would normally just walk right on by, they're potential customers, too!
I mean, seriously, that kind of entrepreneurial spirit is part of the American Dream, after all!
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