Were You There?

Were you at Ben McAdams' headquarters last night?

If you weren't, and you live in Salt Lake County, then you were one of seventeen people who didn't make it.

What a crowd! And it's still six months before the election, and no one even knows the name of Ben's opponent. Someone made the mistake of scheduling the environmental caucus on the same night as "Women's Wednesdays," and the circus was on.

It's not that we have a small office, we don't. My guess is that it's about 4,000 square feet, and there are desks and phones aplenty. But at about 5:00 PM volunteers started arriving, and arriving, and arriving. Joel Freston and Martha Camarillo, the twosome responsible for volunteers, were initially pleased. Then the second score of volunteers arrived, and then the third, and so on, and so on.

Finally, satisfaction melted away into sheer panic. Hastily, card tables were turned into desks, and an intern was sent out to buy a gross of cellular disposables.

But it was useless. People were standing shoulder to shoulder, and front to back. In spite of it all, everyone was well behaved until we ran out of Coke and red licorice Twizzlers. Then there were murmurs. The ugly harbinger of impending mutiny that would even startle a Captain Bligh.

At this moment someone with a marshal's badge and a fireman's uniform arrived at the scene. Unfortunately, with all the murmuring, we couldn't understand a word he said. So an enterprising volunteer handed him a phone and offered her chair. All to no avail, he refused to make a single call.

Finally Joel hit on an idea. He gave me enough money to buy fifty rolls of quarters and deputized another fellow to Google up a map of the closest pay-phones. Martha stationed herself at the door, handing out maps, call lists and forty quarters apiece.

It was a masterstroke. We were saved.

………………

 OK, there were some liberties taken with the previous post, but it's all approximately true.

What follows is entirely factual. Our fundraising is going like gang busters. At this moment, our campaign should be in the doldrums. Everyone's attention should be on the furious Republican primary to oppose Ben. But no, our office has the feel of a winning campaign in October. There are new volunteers everyday and we're on our way to eclipsing a six digit fundraising goal before the end of the reporting period. We couldn't be happier.

Beverly Cooper and Joey Pitt deserve much of the credit for every dollar we earn.

……………….

Here's one undocumented advantage to wearing an orange "Ben McAdams'" tee shirt.

Today, on the way home, I stopped by the Smith's on 900 East and 800 South. I had a large basket of produce and I was stuck at the end of a long line. Unexpectedly, a manager tapped me on the shoulder and pulled my basket over to the next check-stand. Instead of removing the chain, he pulled it up and had me duck underneath along with my basket. So there I was, alone, in a newly opened check-stand next to a long line of people wearing quizzical expressions.

The manager looked up with a hint of conspiracy. "It was the tee shirt," he said, and then he offered a broad smile.