Won't You be my Hero Baby?

“Don’t be a Hero”, Jim, a union leader, would be yelling to the small and kind of sad looking crowd gathered around him. This was the number one rule in political canvassing. Of course it related mostly to large dogs, beware of owner signs, and houses that looked like they had landed on the wicked witch of the west. As mentioned in the last speculation, one must always have your running shoes ready in order to escape angry republicans or the occasional hostile laid off worker. The run away as fast as you can policy goes hand in hand with our don’t be a hero rule.

Today’s speculation; Does the don’t be a hero law go against everything we have been taught or in today’s society its that really what life has come to?

I am sure that you can vividly remember the hero’s of your childhood. Whether it was the Power Rangers, a Disney prince, GI Joe, or Wonder Women; we all admired at least one. All of these characters taught us to stand up for our values and for other people. Hell, there was even a hero for the environment, Captain Planet. Every night popular sitcoms would feature an everyday hero standing up to a bully in some capacity or another. And one of adult’s all-time favorite question for kids was always, “who is your hero?”

When did we start saying, “Don’t be a hero”? Today it seems the closest thing to hero’s in the media is Guitar Hero. Nowadays we have TV shows like “What Would You Do?” where they actually test to see if people will step up in the face of injustice and be a hero. In today’s society it’s unsafe to help someone in need on the side of the road and its more likely to see someone sue another person than stand up to them. Where have all of our hero’s gone? Maybe I just can’t recognize them without their capes on.

In my search to define a hero for today’s generation I stumbled upon a website called the hero project dedicated to sharing the stories of heroes everywhere using media and technology to celebrate the best of humanity and empower young people to realize their realize their own potential to effect positive change in the world. To read some of the stories, visit http://myhero.com/go/home.asp

And for all of those unsung and unrecognized hero’s in my life as well all of my readers, a nauseating song dedication. Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler.

Who’s Who in the World of Politics

Often times I knew I must share my speculations at the Teachers Union with you. While standing in front of a stranger’s doors, I held my breath wondering if I would be greeted by an angry dog or attacked by an unruly citizen. I struggled though the job mostly for money but partly because I knew it would be fairly entertaining to write about.

As mentioned previously, after the Bistro came to a close I took a job working as a political organizer for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. However horrible the job was, I did walk away with 6 new friends and countless humorous anecdotes. I will begin my speculations at the Union by analyzing the types of folks I would encounter while attempting to sway political votes towards the unions endorsed candidates. I can sum up the hundreds of people I visited into seven different categories.

The Uninformed: “Hello my name is Erica, I am here on behalf of the Rhode Island afl-cio….”, I say. “The what?”, they say. “The AFL-CIO!” I say. “What’s that”, they ask. “YOUR UNION?!” I reply. No, they claim they are not in a union. “Are you sure your aren’t in a union because it says here that you are a nurse at a nursing home? “ I implore. “Yes”, they reply, now concerned that I know so much about them. But still no, they claim they are not in a union. They then ask defensively how I know where they work and the whole situation starts over, “Because I am here on behalf of your union!” This is like one of those pick your own endings books, except it only brings me back to the beginning. “Ok well I’ll just leave this information with you anyways”, I say.

The Stop and Shop Worker: “Hi, I am here on behalf of blah blah blah… do you happen to know who you will be voting for in this upcoming election yet?” I ask. The Stop and shop worker says, “Oh I don’t do that kind of thing.” Dumfounded my only response is, “what kind of thing? Voting?”

The Angry Republican Husband: “Hi, I am here on behalf of blah blah blah…” I begin. His response, “The democrats have held power too long, it’s those power hungry unions are corrupting the state. I WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR SO AND SO!” Me, “oh ok well I actually think I was supposed to be talking to your wife a registered democrat and union member, can you just give this to her?” (Now, proceed to run away as quick as possible!)

The Over Enthusiastic Civil Servant: “Of course I will vote for so and so, I have been a long time friend and supporter and I appreciate you going out and campaigning for so and so. It is so great to see young people involved and concerned”, they say. Little did they know I only did it for a paycheck and happen to despise politics. ”Please come inside, would you like something to eat? Something to drink?” they ask. I am not sure how they don’t think this is creepy but I then run away almost as fast as I did from the angry republican.

The Overly Harassed: Sign on door reads….”You ring my bell, you loose my vote.”

The Not so Friendly Neighbor: I only begin to say, “Hello…” when they cut me off “no thanks”. This encounter usually ends by the door slamming in my face.

And finally,

The Passively Polite: After my spiel, they politely say, “Thank you, but they do not know who they are voting for yet”. Translated this means that they are not voting for the person I am talking about and it is none of my business asking who they are voting for!

As portrayed in today’s entry as well as most of the other entries; no matter where you work, the people you encounter are sure to keep you entertained.