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 <grin>. 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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