August 8, 1998 - AndroidCat

It was bright and sunny in Toronto today, and the ARSCC(wdne) Toronto chapter was out enturbulating again. In attendance were Gregg, Artemis, Wulfen, Deep Wog, and myself (who arrived late as usual--hell, I was born 10 days late!).

My legs lasted through the day, but towards the end, I made the mistake of standing still for while doing the co-point position. My lower back .. hurts.

The day was relatively uneventful. There was another rented police officer there today to guard the org from us. Scientology's $400, and usually they end up telling off CoS members. Today I don't think she had to do anything much. (Another woman officer, I'm glad to say. Badge #5531, I think?)(Oh, I did ask her about first aid training--I may have saved someone's life the other week with 22 year old training--she said "St. John's Ambulance Society". Think about it, because you never know when you'll need it!) The org members left us almost completely alone. Almost none of the old crew were there. There was a hand-done sign in the org window "Now Recruiting!" (Duh!), and I forgot to check the open/closed sign. Leafleting didn't seem all that heavy, but by the end Gregg and Artemis ran out of flyers. I didn't go through that many of my "Honey I shrank the Xemu" flyers, but most of the time Wulfen and I were pacing between Deep Wog on the South point (who has a way of saying "Space Aliens!" that almost forces people to take one) and Gregg and Artemis doing the North point position. The traffic was reasonable heavy, and a lot of it quite good looking. (Ah, summer time!) The usual people confused between the routers handing out free test and movie stuff, and we SPs handing out leaflets "You're against it, right?", the usual "No thanks, I know all about it. It's a scam!", drive-by honking and thumbs up.

So, the incidents that stand out: At one point one passerby told his story of a relative who'd gotten caught up in CoS, and how much it had cost him, thanked us for picketing, crossed across the street, and loudly continued the conversation with our sort-of-groupie in front of the "House of Lords" hair cutting place (do they trim whigs or just tories?). (She's quite cute but daft as a bush.)

The only interference from the staff was while I was talking to a passerby, and a member shouted from the org doorway "When you finished with them, come here and learn the truth!". This broke the police-enforced rule that we can't interfere with each other's conversations. The staff members must have had very strict orders about that, because two members behind him immediately said (almost wailed) "Mario!". After that, the officer and Mario disappeared inside the store part of the org for a while. I guess he got a talking-to. (According to Gregg, the police rental is coming out of Mario's pocket, so he's probably a little stressed. (Why doesn't he take one of those free stress tests?))

The passerby was a Polish-Canadian living in Spain. She talked quite a bit to all of us (frequently saying "My God!" in shock), and when we broke for lunch, she came with us to the Sekret SP restaurant (around the corner), talked some more, and insisted on buying our round of drinks! (I think only two of us had anything alcoholic. I had a Guiness--Don't be afraid of the dark!) She left partway through lunch to go see the movie at the org. (We told her to go and see it, that it was very funny.) Since any Polish-descended person I've met doesn't exactly hide their emotions, I'd say Spain is going to be even less safe for Scientology!

Then we informally learned, informally from an informal source that "Reverend" Al Buttnor was informally putting an offer on the table, informally, to bribe us not to picket. Now, I admit I have might have a price (for some things). Yes, for a billion US$ clear, I would sleep with Bill Gates for one night. Buttnor's (informal) offer didn't even move the weight, never mind ring the bell. A lousy $15,000 CDN split five ways? Pfffhhhhttt! Cheapskate! That's not even close to my hourly consulting rates. (We must be hurting them at lot if he's making any [informal] offer! That's gotta be completely out-tech!) Anybody else get one of these or is Al acting rogue (informally)?

It would be almost amusing to take the money, then pass the word out that Scientology was offering money not to picket. I bet I could get most of Toronto's Squeegee kids (wipe car windows for handouts) in front of the org the next week. But I'm sure any such settlement would be conditional on *no one* picketing the Toronto org. (Shyeah right, like we can arrange that! When BTs fly out my buttno.. er, butt!)

The odd thing is that Rev Al has $15,000 on hand (informally). Basically, the Toronto org is bust, and won't make its mortgage payment (in US$) to the mother cthurch this year. I suspect it's being propped up because a major collapse of Scientology in Canada would be a huge embarrassment to the mother cthurch. And I suspect that the mother cthurch doesn't like having to prop up the Toronto org--so Al's under a lot of pressure. (He should take that free stress test too!)

Some church eh!

The next thing was that they sent a handler out to talk to Gregg. (I think Gregg said he was OSA.) I'll have to let Gregg post how that went. It lasted a long time, but it ended when the handler got a "Time Out!" signaled from inside the org. I guess he didn't handle the situation. Oh well, rice and beans...

Their North point body router seemed to jump a little when I took North co-point with Artemis, and did the barker routine: "Scientology, criminally convicted in Canada for breach of the public trust!" "Find out the secret of Xenu, the galactic overlord! The secret Scientology doesn't want you to know!". I didn't do it as well as Gregg or as often, but I guess they figured it wouldn't happen at all with Gregg covered. (Traffic was thinning out by then, and we were a little wobbly with fatigue.)

Other than the occasional passerby who got stuff from the router, then realized their mistake, stuffed it into the trash (like their hand was burning!), and picked up a leaflet, the best part of the day was at the end when the city people came by to empty the trash bin in front of the org. (A new one--I wonder why..? I saw a few CoS handouts on the ground, but *never* any SP leaflets.) Well, when they pulled out the clear plastic bags from that trash container, it was 90% CoS handouts! Hawhaw!

Anyway, that was it. I have a birthday barbecue to attend, and OWW, I hope someone there does back-rubs! (And this time, I hope no one drops, not breathing, until I take some refresher courses! Think about it everyone, that sort of drill/training is a Good Thing!)

Oh, a tip: Never drink straight water after spending time in the sun. Drink Gatorade or equiv. It's the commercial equivilent of Oral Rehydration Therapy.