From: humanrights@racerrecords.com (Kristi Wachter)
Subject: picket report, Mountain View & San Jose, 12/30/98
Date: 1998/12/31
Message-ID: <humanrights-3112980025170001@racer.vip.best.com>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1998
Start and End Times: 10:50 am - 11:50 am
Location: San Jose
Picketers: Kristi Wachter, Brent Stone, Keith Henson
Handlers: Mark and Mark
Number of Handouts given away: 2
Starting Car Count: 29
Comments: nice Mark and nasty Mark

and

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1998
Start and End Times: 1:20 - 2:20 pm
Location: Mountain View
Picketers: John Drake, Lisa, Brent Stone, Kristi Wachter
Handlers (or Scientologists, some of whom might not be handlers): Robin
Number of Handouts given away: 0

We did a couple of lovely pickets today in the South Bay.

I had a bit of sprinkler tech, which was a first for me. They weren't watering the whole sidewalk, but the few feet closest to the driveway were pretty wet, and the Now Hiring sign was dripping. <grin>

Brent was the second to appear. It had been so long since I'd seen him that I actually reintroduced myself. We're going to have to picket more together, Brent!

While we were at the San Jose org, at least one police car went by (maybe two), and so did a San Jose Mercury News van.

A pleasant gentleman came out to snap photos and we obliged, posing and flipping our signs on request; he let me get a couple of shots of him, too (which, as usual, will be posted sometime in the next millenium). I asked his name, and he said he was Mark. He went back inside, and we continued to picket.

A short while later, Keith showed up with extra signs.

After a while, Mark and the other Mark came out to talk with us. "Nice" Mark is the one who snapped our photos, while "Nasty" Mark is the one who handled me for two hours in San Francisco on December 5. Nasty Mark latched onto Keith, and Nice Mark chatted with me and Brent. Well, actually, he mostly ignored Brent and chatted with me.

I asked him what he thought about the revised Science of Survival, and he said he wasn't aware of the alterations. (I searched in vain for a printout of Safe4mula's post, but alas, I couldn't find one.) I mentioned the deleted and rearranged chapters. He asked if I'd ever read SoS, and I said no, but that I had read Intro to Scientology Ethics, Clear Body Clear Mind, Dianetics, and several HCOBs and HCOPLs. He asked if I'd ever audited Dianetics, and I said I'd had an auditing session - I'd never audited anybody, although reading Dianetics the first time got me very interested in the idea, but the franchise I had contact with dissuaded me from doing auditing on my own. He asked me more about my involvement with Scientology, and I told him about my research, my initial disbelief in the overboarding stories and children in chain lockers, and my ultimate decision not to get further involved in Scientology because I disagreed with the Liability formula's requirement to deliver an effective blow against an enemy of the group. He asked if I saw that as requiring violence and I said no, that I'd word-cleared "effective" and "blow", and that I couldn't see how it was requiring anything other than doing something mean to someone else, and I disagreed with that - and that I felt it encouraged a vengeful approach to problems, and I felt that perpetuates problems rather than solving them.

He asked whether I was doing ethics formulas, then, and I said no, I'd just read about them - I wasn't in long enough to be doing ethics formulas ... in fact, I was barely in at all. He asked how I got interested in the first place and I told him I'd been body-routed.

He then asked why I got interested again - "Why all this?" I told him I'd stumbled across ARS and began really researching things, including reading the tech itself at the library, and that I didn't see how the Introspection Rundown could be interpreted in any other way than as a mandate for locking people up illegally. We discussed Dorothy Geary's ordeal, being locked up and pressured for more money, and he said, "Why do you think that happened in the first place?" I said, "Because Scientology has policies on locking people up!"

He asked whether I thought there were a lot of people who have been locked up, and I fished out a copy of the people listed on my web site. I told him that was the people I knew about and had had time to web, adding, "there are an awful lot of people who are afraid to talk about what happened to them in Scientology". He said, "Really!? Do you know any of them?" I mentioned Stacy Young and Dennis (although, as I mentioned, I've never met Dennis), and also mentioned a young lady I've recently met who was held against her will by Scientology, and is very definitely afraid to talk about it.

(At one point, he saw me fiddling with my tape recorder and said he hadn't given his permission to be taped, and I pointed out that he knew I was taping, and if he didn't want to be recorded, he didn't have to talk with me. He said he didn't actually mind, and continued our conversation. I told him the reason I tape is because of Scientology's history of framing people, and he nodded and said OK.)

I was anxious to get over to Mountain View to meet my lunchmates, so I excused myself and split. (As so often happens, Mark actually kept me at San Jose longer than I had planned to be there.) Mark did give me his email address so I could email him the URL for Safe4mula's post about the altered SoS.

I said goodbye to Keith and, since Nasty Mark was there handling him, I asked Nasty Mark if he'd had a chance to read the copy of Lisa's logs I'd given him in San Francisco. He said he had, and I asked what he thought.

Mark: "A lot of people were trying their best to help her."
Me: "I think that's true."
Mark: "And we're not the ones that screwed her up."
Me: "Well, that's debatable."
Mark: "We're the ones who were trying to help that poor girl. And I feel sorry for her - I feel sorry for the people who were trying their best to help her -"
Me: "Me too."
Mark: " - and she was very difficult to help."

I thanked him for his response and took off for Los Dos Hermanos.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw kEvin getting out of his car and complimented him on his perfect timing. Another gentleman was coming toward me, looking at me, and he said, "You're dressed in red, so you must be Jour." It was John Drake. We shook hands and the three of us headed in for lunch. Brent showed up a little later, and Lisa came in shortly before kEvin had to leave. We lunched and talked and oozed entheta.

The rest of us took up signs and strolled the sidewalk. The heavy fog had cleared, and it was a lovely day.

Robin came out to take pictures. She was extremely nice, as before (this time her pleasant personality wasn't even marred by any stray comments about us inciting hatred). I asked her about her toy drive, and she said it had been such a success that she was still distributing all the gifts. I told her I admired her for doing the toy drive and congratulated her a job well done.

After taking group shots of us, she stood around for a bit with the camera, then went back inside.

We picketed and chatted and waved like heck at the cars driving by. We got LOTS of honks and supportive waves. A pedestrian came by and said he agreed that it was a scam, especially the religion angle, and a motorist pulled over and asked whether we'd been taken by Scientology. I explained that I was out there protesting the other people they've hurt, not anything they've done to me. He said his cousin had lost $20,000 on Scientology. I suggested to both of these gentlemen that they contact their congressfolk and the IRS.

A little while later, Robin reappeared and asked if we were planning to have lunch afterwards in the restaurant. I told her no, we already had. She nodded, and I asked if there was any particular reason she wanted to know. She noted that I had parked in the parking lot, and I said that I generally only do park in the parking lot when I'm actually patronizing the businesses there.

<grin>

All in all it was a lovely pair of pickets. It was great to see Keith, Brent, and kEvin again, and it was terrific to meet John and Lisa. It was also nice to see Nasty Mark (even if he is rather nasty sometimes) and Robin again, and to meet Nice Mark.

I don't have any particular plans to picket San Jose again in the very near future, but next time I do, I hope Darlene comes out to say hi. I miss her.

There was no sign of a revenge picket when I got home, but perhaps they'll drop by tomorrow. If they do, I hope they'll change their standard "bigot" flier. It currently says, "Today she lead a smear campaign against peaceful members of a religion and a picket in front of their church", and when they wait a day or two for my revenge picket - they're lying. (Of course, the rest of the flier is lies, too.) Either way, though, it'll be nice to see my personal picketers.

As I said repeatedly to my fellow picketers and my Scientology handlers -

Have a great new year!

--
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.

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