======== Subject: SF Picket Report, Saturday November 5, 1999 From: Realpch Date: Sat, 06 Nov 1999 20:02:25 -0800 Message-ID: <3824F9D1.67F6@aol.com> SF Picket Report, Saturday November 5, 1999 It was a slightly muggy day, and I didn't get to the Bay Bridge until it was 12:24pm and 72 degrees. I was dreadfully late! Still it was a great day for a picket at the San Francisco Scientology Org. By the time that I arrived, Jour had been flyering for about an hour. She wore her traditional red picketing jammies, and had a number of picketing accessories attached to herself...sandwich boards, picket sign with voice activated tape recorder, flyer holder, backpack, digital camera, video camera, and a little friend, who bore a strong family resemblance to my late-lamented Xenu chair. She had more little friends in her pack and she gave me one! She even blew him up for me. I tucked my arm in his, and he made a pleasant picketing partner. It was pretty quiet all around. Foot traffic was light, and no one was handling us, though there was a pair of loungers who absorbed a fair amount of energy who may not have been on the up and up. It's a very strange feature of engaging in protest activities concerning the Church of Scientology that people that one meets may not be all that they seem. Or shall I say, they may be a great deal more than what they seem. I had my usual two picket signs, which came in handy as both Phr and Administrati turned up sans signs. Dress was casual, though I of course wore a proper linen fall jacket in olive over my black stirrup pants and muted plaid shirt. My little green picketing partner wasn't wearing anything, though I may attempt to get a wardrobe together for him for future pickets. As usual, Jour handed out numerous flyers, and I handed out a few. I am generally downstat in this area. At about 2pm we adjourned to the cafe up the block to catch up with each other. It was a pleasant day, and a pleasant picket. Peach ======== Subject: picket report, San Francisco, 11/6/99 From: Kristi Wachter Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 23:32:55 -0800 Message-ID: Date: Saturday, November 6, 1999 Start and End Times: 12:05 - 2:00 pm Location: San Francisco Picketers: Kristi Wachter, Peaches, phr, Administrati Handlers: Josh (barely) Weather: nice - somewhat overcast but pleasant Number of Handouts given away: 163 (downstat!) Comments: peaceful, pleasant picket flier stats: 79 Lisa/hurts people 52 Costs a Mint/Breaking the Law 9 Xenu fliers 12 Lisa fliers 11 attorney general postcards 163 total (Yep, I'm downstat. Ask me if I care.) ----------------------------------------------- Familiar faces seen: Josh Burly Guy Movie Star (pretty, slender, dark-haired lady Scientologist who almost always comes out for a smoke when we picket on weekends) Miss Pixie (red-headed lady Scientologist) Familiar faces not present during this picket: Jeff Quiros Mr. Lady-I-Work-Here Mr. Get-Your-Facts-Straight Craig ----------------------------------------------- Note: Quotes may not be exact, since I didn't listen to my tape recording at all. Also, I occasionally rearrange the chronology slightly to enhance the narrative flow. Four of us picketed the San Francisco org today in a nice, quiet, uneventful protest. It was largely uneventful - just the way I like it. ME MYSELF I I soloed for maybe half an hour to start the picket off. I saw a trio of police officers just after I got there. They paid me not the slightest mind; they knew we would be picketing (as always) and they know we're peaceful picketers. I gave away a bunch of fliers and had some good conversations with various folks. One young lady who lived in a nearby apartment building said she'd seen picketers out there before and specifically came over to ask why I was protesting. I gave her the complete rundown (no pun intended) and handed her some fliers. Josh made his first appearance of the day, popping out to take my picture. All in all, the Scientologists were quite nonconfrontational, which continues the very welcome change from their provocative behavior a few months back. I don't believe a single Scientologists spoke a word to us - Josh's photography was the only reaction I noticed. EVERYBODY GET TOGETHER Somewhere around 12:30, Peaches showed up, and shortly thereafter Phr appeared as well. Administrati appeared for a brief stint around 1:30. It had been two months since I'd seen any of them, and it was a delightful reunion. I made a point of telling passersby about the upcoming memorial protest on the first Saturday of next month. A few of them reconfirmed the date with me - perhaps we'll have a few newcomers in December. I'M A SPACE COWBOY I had brought a few inflatable aliens for anyone who wanted one, so I blew up some aliens for Peaches and Phr. They greatly enhanced the festivities. ... Personally, I'm not comfortable imitating Keith's "space cooties" patter (although he does it quite well his own self); the secrecy and deception about space opera is one of the things that bothers me about Scn, but it's low on the list, below false imprisonment and practicing medicine without a license and fraud. However, I greatly enjoy picketing with an alien slung on my sandwich sign, because people WILL ask about it, and then I get to gleefully pull out a Xenu flier and explain to people why going Clear[TM] won't free them from illness and irrationality - it's those darn space cooties. MAKING MOVIES A friendly local SP sympathizer had offered to lend me a camcorder, so we had a lot of fun taking mini-movies. Phr didn't bring a sign, so he became the designated cameraman once he arrived. I think Peaches got some good footage of me blowing up aliens. (Hey, if Xenu can do it, why can't I?) The best part, though, was a conversation we were having with a passerby. Josh came out to take pictures again ... but he never actually took any. I learned later that it was because Phr had immediately trained the camcorder on him. Hmmm. Guess he doesn't want to actually be recorded doing that. I wonder why that is. FIRST YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU GOTTA DO, THEN YOU GO AHEAD AND DO IT ... Several people today asked me what they could do about Scn, and were happy to take attorney general postcards. I also reiterated, as usual, that they should contact their congresspeople and the IRS - as well as telling their friends and families. It was refreshing to hear so many people express an interest in taking action. TALK TO ME We've all been pretty busy, so as soon as 2 pm rolled around, we knocked off and went for liquid refreshment. (I tried the new Nantucket Nectars Lemonade - yum.) We had a nice LONG chat with each other and got to catch up. We also had two excellent conversations with other cafe patrons, one as we arrived and one just before we left. The first one began with a young lady asking about the inflatable aliens. I gave her a Xenu flier and a brief explanation. She had seen the Entertainment Tonight segment (as had at least one or two of the picket passersby) and also said she sees picketers at the org "all the time", so she was very interested in info about Lisa and Scn's various crimes. The second conversation started when a gentleman approached our table and asked if we had been picketing Scn. He proceeded to tell us that a friend of his had gotten involved a few years ago - they had wanted her to join staff, and then wanted her to go to Flag. He said he went to the org with her and asked a lot of hard questions, and as a result they told him he had to leave. THE END It was another quiet, peaceful picket - just the way I like them. There was no sign of revenge picketers at my place. Craig, if you DID come by - sorry I missed you! (And whether you came by or not, I hope you're well!) My thanks to everyone who joined in - it was LOVELY to see you all! Kristi The next regularly scheduled first-Saturday-of-every-month picket is December 4. In conjunction with memorial protests around the world, this protest will be dedicated to the memory of Lisa McPherson. Protesters are expected to be at the org from 11 am until dusk, when we'll have a candlelight vigil. -- Kristi Wachter the activist formerly known as "Jour" (before $cientology outed me) I think $cientology is hurting people and breaking the law, and I want them to stop it. See http://www.scientology-lies.com for more. Can you say "Xenu?" ... I knew that you could.