Chapter 14 Candidate signature for the Independence Day fireworks display

As I mentioned before, our dear Comrade Chuck, who just turned 25 this year, rushed out to run for the House of Representatives.He needs 1,500 signatures to be on the ballot, and in order to deal with the pickiness of the enemy, he needs to collect 2,000 signatures in case of accidents. When our Montgomery County Liberal Party held a meeting on July 1, he only collected nearly 300 signatures, which is not far from the deadline of August 2. Therefore, he decided to take advantage of the east wind of July 4, the United States’ Independence Day, to initiate two A campaign to solicit signatures for the election.

Both events were scheduled for nearby fireworks displays.This is a way of celebration that the American people love to see, and it is almost indispensable for the annual Independence Day celebrations.Chuck picked two places in his constituency, one in a small town called Ambler, where they set off fireworks at the local middle school on Friday (July 2) night; the other in Abingdon ( Abington), on July 4th.Our company has two days off for Independence Day, from July 2nd to July 5th, and I attended Chuck's event in Ambler.Others in attendance were Phil, a friend of Chuck's, and our old acquaintances Jim, Darren, Joe, and Greg.

We plan to meet at Ambler train station at 6pm, eat pizza prepared by Chuck, arrive at Ambler Secondary School at 7pm, start fighting, start fireworks at 9pm, and retreat to nearby A bar where Chuck invites everyone to drink.However, since Jim, Joe and Greg were busy and could only meet us directly at Ambler High School at 7 o'clock, only me, Phil and Darren enjoyed the Chuck belt at the Ambler train station. Come for the pizza.Phil is Chuck's friend since he was a teenager. He just graduated from college at the beginning of the year and hasn't found a job yet, so he has more time and often helps Chuck out.

Chuck was better prepared this time.First of all, he provided a signature form with his name printed on it. The signature forms I used to get from Jim were the signature forms used throughout Pennsylvania. candidate for senator.This time it was for Chuck to collect signatures, so the signers had to be from his constituency, and his name had to be on the signature sheet.Of course, we each brought a few signature forms that are common throughout the state, so that if someone came from other places, they could also ask them to sign.However, Chuck estimates that for a purely local event like the fireworks show, most people should come from his constituency.

In addition, he put everyone's mobile phone numbers on a small card, so that we will not be separated during the fireworks show.He also typed the names of all the cities in his constituency for reference by signers.He also prepared a bunch of business cards, and we each took 10 of them, and if anyone was interested in Chuck, we could give them to him. When he arrived at Ambler Middle School, Phil said half-jokingly and half-sentimentally: "We have been abused here for 4 years!" It turned out that both he and Chuck graduated from this school.Chuck finds a friend of his first and uses his place to park.After he came back, he said to us: "My friend said that I would be charged $4 to park a car, but I don't know if she was joking or telling the truth." Daren laughed and said, "It must be a joke." I said, "I guess it's because the middle school parking lot charges $5 a car today, or she wouldn't have said that." Sure enough, Jim met us later, and as soon as we met, he reached out and asked for the $5 parking fee.Chuck pulled out a $5 bill and handed it to him.This detail impressed me, because Jim is a small business owner, far richer than Chuck, a student, and he is not a stingy person.Obviously, he thought he was here to help Chuck today, so of course all the expenses should be reimbursed by Chuck.

Fireworks will be set off on the Middle School lawn.We discussed the tactical issues, and finally decided that everyone would split up and block several entrances to get people to sign.Before the words were finished, Jim turned around and stopped a couple who were passing by, holding an autograph form and saying, "Can you sign for us? We want to help Chuck Morton get on the ballot." The lady had some Asked suspiciously: "Who is Chuck Morton?" Jim pointed at Chuck who was standing beside him proudly and said, "That's him!" To our surprise, the woman immediately said, "Oh, I know you! I've seen your debates! I agree with a lot of your positions." Chuck quickly said, "Thank you." Jim took the opportunity to say, " Then please sign your name." Naturally, these two people immediately signed their names without saying a word.

After winning the first battle, our morale was boosted, and we immediately dispersed to stand guard.I walked in the same direction with Daren and Phil, and then we separated to different intersections.This time I have a candidate that can be launched grandly, and the natural momentum is different from before. When I see someone coming over, I say: "Good evening!" Others usually answer "Good evening!" Can my friend Chuck Morton sign? He's running for the House of Representatives in November, but first he has to get 1,500 signatures to appear on the ballot. Can you sign him?"

Some people will also ask: "Who is this person?" I tell them: "He is a student of Villanova University Law School. He is 25 years old this year. He is a good young man." Point to the crowd on the grass and say, "Chuck Morton's over there. We're doing this together, except I'm over here and he's over there. I can't show you where he is, but I can I assure you that he is near here." Since this time the teacher is more famous, the response is more positive than last time.Of course, there is an additional way to say no: "Sorry, I don't know this person well, so I can't sign." At this point, I often look up Chuck, but I never find it.Later, I heard from Jim that he once called Chuck after encountering such an answer, hoping that Chuck's appearance would dispel people's concerns.Unexpectedly, the couple questioned Chuck about his political stance for 15 minutes before finally deciding not to sign.Chuck later resignedly told me: “It’s fun to talk about politics, but I think the time would be more effective if it’s used to get signatures. When that happens, I’ll quit after a minute or two.”

Another advantage of tonight is that Americans tend to regard fireworks shows as an opportunity for family activities. Will not refuse.Anyway, I specially prepared two signature forms this time, which can be used at the same time, and two people can sign together without wasting time.However, there were also some couples where one of them seemed to be stopped by me helplessly, while the other continued to walk forward with the child, and then stood not far away, waiting there impatiently.In this case, of course, I am embarrassed to rush forward and ask another person to sign. An unexpected problem is that when I stop someone, I often say: "I've already signed it." It seems that Phil has rushed further in front of me and ambushed him first.I had to change to another intersection to solve the problem.

The following developments are similar to previous similar activities. There are still people who don’t ask questions and sign with a swipe of a pen; Some people would ask, "Which party does he belong to?", and they would turn around and leave immediately after hearing that it was the Liberal Party; At about 8 o'clock, Chuck called everyone to enter the next phase of the operation, targeting the people on the grass.At this time, it was only an hour before the fireworks show started, and most people had already spread blankets on the grass, sat on them, chatted and had fun, waiting for the show to start.I thought they were quite comfortable sitting there. At first they were embarrassed to disturb them, and they held on to the intersection for a while before they reached the end of the grass and started fighting from there.

It turned out surprisingly well.I guess it's because these people are waiting for the fireworks to start, and they have nothing to do anyway, so they are more friendly to me, unlike the people at the intersection who are eager to rush to the grass to take a seat.Most people are willing to sign, and there are often two or three families sitting together at this time. As long as one person signs, the other three or five people are usually willing to sign, and they all like to chat with me. One of the more interesting ones was when two women were sitting together, and I sat down in the middle behind their chairs—a strategy I had always had so I could speak to two people at the same time—and started lobbying.A woman asked the same question again: "Who is Chuck Morton?" The lady leaned forward and back with a smile.I took the opportunity and said, "Then can you sign for him?" The lady on the right pointed to her companion and said, "She can't sign, she doesn't live here." I said, "That's okay. You live in Pennsylvania, right?" She said, "No, Argentina." This really surprised me, but I immediately said happily: "Argentina, my favorite country! I'm going to learn Spanish. And, I really like Borges!" She asked suspiciously, "Who?" I thought maybe my pronunciation was wrong, so I repeated Borges' name several times.She still didn't know who I was talking about.I secretly thought maybe it would be easier for me to say I like Maradona.At this time, another woman said, "Have you asked them to sign?" She pointed to the two men sitting in front of the right, who should be their husbands, and she told them, "You signed this young man signature form?" The two men said impatiently: "No!" I went up and asked them to sign.As a result, after they listened to my explanation, they said, "I don't know who this Chuck Morton is, and I can't sign it." I pointed to the grass in front of me and said, "He's collecting signatures over there." They still said : "I don't know his position, so I can't sign it." I had no choice but to say thank you and go back to the two ladies.In the end, they also abided by women's morals, and when their husbands refused to sign, they refused to sign.The only progress was that I got Borges's name down, and finally connected with the Argentinian lady.She was more impressed by his poems than I was by his novels. After leaving them, I wandered on the grass for a while. By this time, it was getting darker. Many people said they could not read the signature form clearly and refused to sign.My last effort that night was next to a sky lantern, where two couples sat together.I walked up to them and said to them, "My friend Chuck Morton is running for the House of Representatives and needs 1,500 signatures, can you sign him so he can be on the ballot in November?" A woman asked me, "Which party are you from?" I said, "Liberal." She immediately cheered up and said, "Then you plan to drive Bush out of the White House?" I replied: "Yes. We also have our own presidential candidate." I thought to myself, it seems that I have met a Democrat.They immediately took the signature form and looked at it carefully.Since it was too dark to see clearly, the man simply stood up and walked to the light to look.The lady said to me kindly, "You should have brought a flashlight." I said, "Yes. Next time we will have experience." She still signed it readily.I persuaded their friends to come to sign, but they came from other places, so they could only sign on the Pennsylvania general signature form I prepared.At this time, the man had already seen his watch clearly, and returned to his seat to sign.I said, "So you're Democrats?" Together they laughed and said, "We're registered Republicans!" I was surprised and said, "Then why would you oppose Bush?" I thought, could it be that I encountered the same undercover agent at the Kerry supporter gathering last time? They scrambled to say: "Because of Bush's reckless actions, the United States has become a laughing stock in the world!" Now we have found a common topic.I asked them again: "Have you watched "Fahrenheit "9.11"?" They said: "No, we don't plan to watch it either." "Why? Since you are against Bush, you should watch this movie." They chuckled and said, "Oh, we're already against Bush, we don't need to be re-educated!" I quickly told them: "But this movie is very funny. Even if you don't watch its content, just watch it's funny, you will enjoy it a lot!" Now it's their turn to be surprised: "Oh? Can such a movie be funny? We thought it was serious!" I said positively, "It's hilarious. Go see it, you won't regret it. It's a one-sided movie to be honest, but as long as it's funny enough, you should go see it?" They all nodded in agreement.The lady also held up the snack bag in her hand and asked me to taste it.Seeing that she was so kind, I took three or four peanuts and ate them.By this time their friends had also finished signing, and I had a few words with them about the creed of the Liberal Party, then thanked them and left. It's past 9 o'clock, the sky is completely dark, and the fireworks may start at any time.I called Chuck and asked if he was ready to retreat.But he obviously still has high fighting spirit, and replied that the fireworks haven't started yet, and we can continue.But I think people can't see the signature list clearly, so they go back to the original intersection to find other people. Soon I found Darren, Joe, Greg and Jim.Everyone went to Chuck again, and suddenly there was a loud bang, and the crowd burst into cheers. It turned out that the fireworks had finally started to go off.We also looked up.After a while, Jim said with a smile: "We can see the fireworks, thanks to the Chinese." I replied, "Yes. We Chinese often say that we invented gunpowder to make fireworks, but you Westerners use it to make guns." Jim said: "Well said!" But Joe said unconvinced: "That's because the Chinese didn't find a way to use it as a gun. I read some articles that the Chinese also have cannons. If they can invent modern ones Guns, they will certainly invent to kill people." Now it's my turn to have nothing to say, so I have to continue watching the fireworks. After meeting with Chuck and Phil, everyone counted the results. I collected 45 signatures, plus three Pennsylvania general signatures, and everyone raised more than 400 signatures in total.The main reason is that Chuck and Phil have more, and both raised more than 100.It's not surprising that Chuck got so many, because he is a candidate himself, and when others see this person standing in front of him alive, the possibility of signing is relatively high.Phil also raised more than 100, which I admire a lot, probably because he graduated from here, so he is considered a local leader, so he can talk to the locals more easily. Then we got together in the bar and learned the lesson.It was agreed that one should go to the crowd on the grass in the first place, where the efficiency is much higher than the junction, and the attitude of the people is much better.At intersections, although most people don't show dissatisfaction, they don't like the harassers who block the road and cut the trails. We will be more welcome when we sit idly on the grass and wait for the fireworks to start.After everyone dispersed, Chuck sent a letter to the mailing list of the entire Pennsylvania election signature, sharing our experience with everyone.In addition to getting to the lawn early, he also reminded others who wanted to go to the fireworks show to bring flashlights.But his other suggestion: "When the first person is signing, immediately start asking the next person to sign", I don't quite agree.In fact, I have encountered this situation several times. When one person is signing, there are many other people walking by.I always stand there and wait for the first person to sign, thank you before going to intercept others. If the crowd has already passed, I would rather wait for the next wave.I think it's not polite for someone to sign for you with good intentions, but you immediately abandon him and go to someone else. Note on August 3rd We still didn't get enough signatures, Jim hired fee signers, spent about $500 more, and finally, all the Liberals got enough signatures to appear on the fall ballot.