Picket Report, Anti Reg

Scientology Lies > Pickets > Salt Lake City >Picket Report, Anti Reg



From: "Anti-Reg" 
Subject: Picket report Salt Lake City 03/11/00
Date: 11 Mar 2000 00:00:00 GMT
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Salt Lake City was a little overcast and a bit chilly today.  I arrived at
the Salt Lake org at 1 pm and saw that Deana was already there, sitting in
her car.  I parked behind her on the street and got my picket sign out of
the trunk.

Deana and I began walking back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the
org.  The first thing I noticed was a big, seething pile of dog poop right
in our path.  Deana said she hoped they would bring Phil Parke out to
"handle" it.

With two of us picketing, we got a lot of response from people driving by.
Almost everyone was looking at our signs and we got plenty of thumbs up,
waves, smiles, laughs, shouts, and honks.  I noticed that when I
deliberately held my sign out at arm's length, with my arm parallel to the
ground, that people seemed more interested in the sign and that the
response was better (a little piece of serendipitous picket tech).

The traffic on 1100 E was quite busy, with only a few small dead periods
here and there.  There was also more foot traffic than there had been last
time.  Thank goodness for the post office a few buildings down the
street... it really increases traffic when it is open.

One group of three young people walked by and said they really supported
us in what we were doing.  One of them even flipped off the org as he
walked by.  A young couple stopped and asked us a few questions and Deana
gave them a flyer.  A young man stopped and asked us what was going on and
we educated him and gave him a flyer.  An older gentlmen getting into his
car in front of the org asked us about Scientology.  Another guy actually
pulled his car over, got out, and asked us about our activities.  It
seemed like it was just one person after another!

Probably the most interesting thing that happened during the picket was
that two young guys came walking up from the post office and approached
Deana and me.  They said they were film students at the University of Utah
and they wanted to know if they could ask us a few questions on camera for
a project they were doing.  Deana and I agreed and they got their camera
out and asked us questions about our experience with Scientology and why
we were picketing.  The fact that there were two more people, with a
camera even, resulted in a lot more attention from passers-by.  It went
really well except that when I was giving the xenu.net URL, I spelled Xenu
with a Z. Deana corrected me and later I told that she should have just
FLUNKed me for that because that was what I was used to .  Forgive
me, but Cult Fighting 101 was never a requisite course at the university I
went to.

After the film students finished talking to us they took a few shots of
the org and then asked us if they thought the Scientologists would talk to
them. I told them they would be asked to leave if they went into the org
with a camera.  They went in anyway and then came out about 4 or 5 minutes
later. I asked them if the Scientologists talked to them and they said no.  
I said, "I didn't think they would."  We thanked each other and then they
left.

I immediately got to wondering if the "students" might have been OSA
minions trying to get me to "admit" on camera that I was out picketing in
order to "extort" my own money from Scientology.  I mentioned it to Deana
and she said she didn't think that was the case.  We just told the truth.  
Boy, when it comes to Scientology, you just can't take anything at face
value.

To OSA:  PLEEEEASE get a new song and dance.  That "extortion" bit is so
passe.

There was absolutely no "handling" from the org.  They didn't even bring
poor Phil out of mothballs.  About the only activity we witnessed was a
staffer or two using the receptionist phone.  At one point, Judy Steed,
the ED, sat at the receptionist desk and watched us for about 10 minutes
(the building has glass windows in front).  I think all the response we
were getting really had her in a snit.  I didn't pay any attention to her.

We decided to stop picketing at 2:30 because we were both kind of tired
and because we had already accomplished so much that day.  It was a very
successful picket.  We avoided stepping in the dog poop and we convinced a
lot of people to steer clear of Scientology (which is kind of like
avoiding stepping in dog poop).

I have come to one inescapable conclusion:  People don't like the Church
of Scientology.

To OSA:  Your picket hours balance is now 13,056.

--
Sean Ostler
A.K.A.  Anti-Reg, ATS (Actual Trouble Source)

"I got regged one too many times!"





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