I responded to an appeal to volunteer as a phone bank caller over the weekend. The idea is to call registered voters to learn whether they have decided who they'll vote for and, if undecided, to discuss issues with them, if they'd like.
What an education. First of all, "phone bank" is a term that harks back to the days when the telephone company (all land line stuff back then) would be brought in to set up a "bank" of phones for a calling marathon (fund raiser; election; town survey, etc.). People would come in, sit at a cubicle desk where the phone was set up, do their dialing, and then record the whole thing on paper. This meant such a phone bank required advance notice to get set up; wall jacks into which the phones would be plugged; handsets for the callers to use; cords all over the place. You get the idea. Not a spontaneous activity. And not inexpensive for the organization initiating the phone bank.
Consider today's methods. Someone requests (probably via email) that you come to a place. Could be just about anyplace where you can be heard when you make a phone call. Like someone's home, if there aren't kids screaming in the background (and maybe that's acceptable, too, depending on what kind of calls you're making). You respond sure, you're willing to take part. You sign up for a time slot, show up with your cell phone, get the list of calls to be made and a script, tally your calls (this is still done on paper by the caller, but the minute the team leader collects all the sheets, it goes to the computer and is instantly sent to wherever the headquarters for this calling setup is). Easy. Efficient. Cheap.
But it's the conversations I found so fascinating. Total strangers, calling across state lines, finding people at their home on a weekend and saying "Hello...have you decided for whom you're voting on November 4?") It's surprising to me how many people are friendly, happy to share their decision and sound as if they feel good that you called. There are BIG exceptions to this scenario, of course. The screamers, the cursers, the obstinate, the insulting. But they are few. And they are mostly people with extreme opinions. Opinions I'm sure any of us would consider extreme, regardless of party affiliation.
Reminds me of a quote my father loved to use: "Small minds tend to extreme opinions." Not sure he ever read Yeats, but the line appears to be stolen from Yeats who said "Only empty souls tend to extreme opinion."
The phoning was a terrific experience, offering a firsthand look at the way political campaigns are run at the grass roots level. I've not been involved in them before; made me feel totally "American" in the hometown feel of it all. Tough to find that kind of experience in Manhattan.
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