March 13, 1998
Picket Report: Atlanta
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Picket Report: Atlanta, Friday March 13th, 1998
From: Mad_Cow
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 00:01:16 -0600
The Atlanta division of the ARSCC (wdne) drew blood again on Friday,
March 13, 1998 as it collected its members and converged on the local
Dianetics Center at the corner of West Peachtree and 13th Street. In
attendance were myself, Wynot, Laudanum, Jeff, Slax, and Special Guest
appearance by Xenu (Shorty, you is so kewl).
We assembled in the parking lot about noon, across the street from the
Dyin-Ethics Off-Center directly under the noses of the scienos. Here we
assembled our picket signs (I made Laudanum her very own Pikkit Pole
[tm]), then spread out on the sidewalk and began our march.
Our seven-foot Xenu really got a lot of attention! He was the most
congenial of Galactic Overlords, waving to everyone and yelling "Xenu
loves you!". Exactly how much attention he was drawing was realized when
a police car rolled up directly next to us about 15 minutes into the
picket. The policeman pulled Xenu aside to inform him that there was a
Mask Law (oh puh-leez) in Atlanta that is enforced everyday but
Halloween. The officer said that our picket was perfectly OK except for
the mask and ask Xenu to remove his face. Because he was on his lunch
hour, Xenu decided not to scare the local populace to death by revealing
his true identity, but instead chose to return to work early. The
officer then turned to the lovely scieno info-babe Susan (one of our
handlers from the February 28th picket) and told her what we were doing
was perfectly legal and lawful.
We continued to walk up and down the sidewalk opposite from the Borg.
During this picket we got maybe ten honks and a few thumbs-ups. I
managed to pass out all 15 of my Xenu flyers and the same number of "In
LRH's Own Words". We didn't get any middle-finger signs this time, but
one guy yelled "they gotta right to be here too", to which I replied "So
do we."
Soon Slax joined us, raising our spirits and our headcount. We now had
an actual former member of Scientology, and an OT I at that! The scienos
countered by sending out Linda, an OT 7. Later I asked her why she
wasn't levitating over the sidewalk. She didn't laugh. Tough crowd.
Poor Laudanum picked up a real winner! Yogi, an older man, Clear, with a
kewl green hat and a face that looked like it was carved out of
concrete. He trailed along behind her, asking why she's picketing, why
she's spreading lies. Regardless of what she said, he labelled it all
lies, even after she referred him to my "There was no Christ" sign.
Later I asked him why he was wearing glasses because Clears are supposed
to have perfect eyesight. He said he had a bad cornea in one eye.
Whatever.
Then there was Susan. Yes, she latched onto me, not realizing the bright
red coat she wore was helping to draw attention to the picket. I found
out she was a pre-Clear, on staff. We talked about a lot of stuff, like
the Clear Cognition, some OT III stuff (incidents one and two), clams,
Piltdown Man. She would not take any documentation I offered her (R2-45,
Xenu, etc.). Once two guys in a truck pulled up and I gave 'em a Xenu
flyer. Susie gave 'em some rebuttal docs (Lisa Lies) and tried to take
my Xenu flyer outta the guy's hand. I rested my hand on her arm and said
"now now now", then turned to the guys and said "she doesn't want you to
read that". They left with flyers intact.
Susan must have thought she was in charge of the picket herself, because
she started getting a little bossy. She would say things like "don't
block traffic into the parking lot" and "careful crossing the street".
When a pedestrian would approach she would command "stand aside and let
her pass". I would respond by saying "Yes, Mother" and "of course,
dear".
With all the picketers and the accompanying handlers mingled together,
the narrow sidewalk was becoming crowded. So I crossed the street and
started picketing on the sidewalk directly in front of Diarrhea Central.
Man, did I get some sour looks from the scienos that came out for smoke
breaks! They would come out and light up, take a few puffs, see little
ol' enthetic me, and either go back inside or walk further down the
block away from me. And the Sea Org witchipoo that saw me as she
egressed the building got a look on her face that reminded me of someone
who has stepped in cow-poop. Boy did she look offended. Good. She should
be.
At 2 p.m. we quit for the day. Susan asked when we would be back. I
shrugged and said you just never know when we might show up again. Gotta
keep 'em on their toes. Then we left for the 1-hour photo store, then
for food! No tail again. Gee, we'll just have to try harder to be more
suppressive next time!
The drive home was interesting. I took a wrong turn and ended up heading
north on I-85. I got off at Lenox Road and headed for Phipps Mall, where
I walked around and pretended I had money. Nice mall, but bring yer
plastic with ya. Back on the road, I didn't know rush-hour in Atlanta is
actually 3 hours long!! Atlanta is beautiful at night, so at least I had
an attractive backdrop as I fought my way down I-75, onto I-20, then
back to the deep, dark jungles of Alabama.
Until next time, MOOOO!
Mad_Cow
