Toronto picket report Aug 18/2001
Addition:: at the end of the picket, Gregg left some picket flyers on their
stress-test table, which was sitting right on a public sidewalk. They had
moved everything inside after we showed up.
We noticed that three children, most likely the children of the staff
inside, were hovering near the table, as if they wanted to read it but were
too scared to.
Finally one of the staff members rushed outside, took pictures of the flyers
on the table, and then grabbed them and crumpled them up as he walked into
the Org.
Mario came out and shooed the children right back into the Org as Gregg and
I approached the Org again.
Ok, end of addition.
Kaeli.
Kaeli wrote:
Picketers: Gregg Hagglund (has returned :) ), Kaeli, and Zeratul
110 ft away: Keith Henson
At 4:30 we picked up the signs and made our way to the Org. Keith
stopped at his now-customary 110 ft away from the Org, while Gregg,
Zeratul and I made our way to the Org itself.
We noticed that they were promoting their free stress test. Gregg walked
up to the person Mario was trying to reg, and began speaking. Mario
stood up, yelling, "This is harassment I'm calling the police!" and
rushed into the Org.
He came back out within a minute saying, "OK, OK, are you happy now? You
upset me!"
Gregg mentioned that Mario condoned the harassment of his family, and
Mario attempted to turn it on Gregg, saying, "this man" while pointing
to the customer "has not been picketing your home..." I interrupted.
"Now, Mario, don't accuse him. We know it's not him and you're trying to
get him involved."
The person walked off after that, shaking his head.
While picketing I pointed out Mr. Jewelry (who I'm now describing as
the Isaac Hayes wannabe, after seeing what Isaac Hayes looked like on
the Joy of Creating promo they kept playing on their big screen TV) who
had stalked another picketer to their place of work. He proceeded to
walk right back into the Org, turning to give me a dirty look
afterwards.
He also seemed camera shy as well, running into the back of the Org to
avoid getting a picture taken of him as well... I know it was asked,
what is hiding on the tone scale, and I still haven't figured it out yet
where it would be :)
The picket after that was uneventful. The staff, apparently according
to OSA orders to appear "scared", either milled around near the back or
disaappeared somewhere else. No goon squad. No handlers.
We finished the picket at 5:30
*Add on from last picket*: One of the passersby gave some information
about Mario's night time habits which is not exactly quoteable in
detail.
Kaeli.
18 Aug 2001
kaeli@klis.com