What A Difference Some Merch Makes

​                            Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:   
     "Equal And Opposite Reactions"      http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
     "Hail Mary"                                           https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
     "Tropical Depression"                        https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

​What A Difference Some Merch Makes

         I canvassed for Obama in 2008 and 2012,

...and I canvassed for Hilary in 2016.

     I didn't canvass for Biden in 2020.  Because we all remember how it was in 2020.

       But it was well into September of 2024, and for weeks I'd been telling myself that I really needed to think about getting out there and hitting the sidewalks for Kamala.

       And then I'd think about it.
     Until one afternoon when I was taking a stroll around my neighborhood and I happened to run into a neighbor from a few streets over who was likewise taking an afternoon stroll around the 'hood and who said she'd been thinking about contacting me because she saw the signs in my yard,

...and was wondering if I could snag some yard signs for her. I told that indeed I could, as I had a guy. 
       I got a hold of my sign guy, but it so happened that he was out of town, and so he directed me to his associate sign guy, Ross, who, I learned, is the vice president of the Gahanna Democrats and Friends,

...and whose address, as it turned out, I had no problem locating.

      Ross gave me some signs for my neighbor then asked me if I might want to think about canvassing for the Democratic candidates. I replied that indeed I might want to. Think about it, that is. He told me that if I wanted to join them the canvassers would be meeting at his house on Saturday at 10 am. 
       So I thought about it some more then decided enough thinking already, and the following Saturday, September 21, I headed back to Ross's house, where the place was humming with canvassers, organizers,

...and, of course, boxes of the requisite campaign donuts.

      It did my heart good to see so many young people involved,

...fired up,

...and ready to go.

       I learned that the canvassing modus operandi had changed from the last time I'd done it. Instead of schlepping  around with piles of campaign literature and sheaves of papers with addresses, maps, and squares on which to check off  our progress,  now all we needed to schlep were our phones, on which we downloaded a canvassing app, and our lit.

​     And so I set out, phone and literature in hand, to my assigned neighborhood, finally to  to canvass for Kamala and the Dems.

    I'd been assigned to knock on doors in an apartment complex called Christopher Wren, 

...a pleasant, tree-lined place where the streets had charming names like Milk Street, Bread Street, Bird Street, and Page Street,

...and where nobody opened their door when I rang bell of their Ring security camera. 
        That is, almost nobody did. Out of the 34 doors I hit, only 4 were answered by humans. A few of the Ring bells invited me to leave a message. One of them invited me to go away, which was a little, well, hurtful to be so treated by a Ring bell. 
         In any case, after my hours of canvassing I felt a weence discouraged to have made so little connection, and figured I probably wouldn't bother canvassing anymore, as I couldn't see the point, even though one of the canvassing leaders assured me that four doors opened was still pretty good.   
           A few days later I was relating my tale of canvassing woe to a friend who said, "Well, a canvasser came to my door the other day and I wasn't going to open it until I saw that she was wearing a Kamala hat and some buttons, so then I opened the door to her."
        The light bulb flipped on in my brain: I need me some Kamala merch!
         I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a six-pack of buttons,          

         (Get it?)

...and two hats, because I couldn't decide between the two.  ​

        The following Saturday morning I set out once more, this time all merched-up, and,  just for good measure, carrying a clip board for no real purpose except to make me look bona fide.        

      (Though I did eventually come up with the good idea of clipping my campaign lit to my clipboard).
       This time when I arrived at canvassing headquarters one of our candidates, Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, who is running for Ohio State Representative, was there to cheer us on,

​...and give us some buttons, which I likewise pinned to my shirt.

     This time I was assigned a pastoral neighborhood of lovely homes and yards called Harrison Pond.

     Flashing my candidates' merch, my clipboard in hand, I began ringing Ring camera bells. This time did the residents open their doors to me?
          Indeed they did. And they smiled at me. And chatted with me. And thanked me for my service.  Once some folks in a car called out encouragement to me.* It was quite miraculous. According to my final stats, in this neighborhood I rung 49 Ring bells,  41% of which opened for me.
          I suppose in truth I can't know how much difference my canvassing will make  in this election. But I have hope, and I'll keep doing what I can.
​            And I'll do it decked out in my merch.

    *Needless to say, this was a pretty Democratic neighborhood. But then, so, supposedly, had been the previous week's neighborhood.