Pointers

Yesterday I walked in Palmerton using a list from the AFL-CIO of union members who were not registered to vote.  I know--go figure.  That’s not what I want to talk about, however.  What I want to do is give you some pointers.  

My friend Marian and I were doing a door-to-door in Nesquehoning last fall, and we agreed that you could almost always tell when a house was vacant.  Later I read a confirmation of this in a John Sandford mystery novel.  One of Lucas Davenport’s detectives speculated that a house with people in it gave off a certain vibration--breathing, walking, cooking, even sleeping--that was absent when the house was vacant.  

I’ve occasionally been wrong.  I’ll be sitting on the steps writing a note when the door opens.  Nonetheless, that happens less than one time in ten.  

Here are a few other things I’ve learned:

1. If the paper is still on the porch, you won’t get an answer.
2. Only about half of the door bells work.
3. Never peer in to see if anyone is there.  It’s rude and frightens people.
4. If you half turn away from the door, people are more likely to open the door.
5. If you are wearing a baseball cap, take it off when the person comes to the door.
6. People are more likely to open the door for a couple than for one person.
7. If a kid tells you his mother is on the back porch and you can come in through the house, don’t go.  She’ll be sunbathing, and you will both be very embarrassed.

100 days to go to the November election.  I’ll be out again next weekend.  

Dear Readers:  The above post was completed last night, but I couldn't get on the Internet.  The electrical storms we are having messed up more than the clock on the microwave.  It is a reminder of how fragile the grid is.  As Barry Commoner once said, "Nature bats last."