Date: Saturday, September 2, 2000
Start and End Times: 12:00 - 2:00 pm, and 3:15 - 4:00 pm
Location: San Francisco
Picketers: Peaches, Murdoch, Adam, Phr, Kristi Wachter
Handlers: Josh (barely)
Weather: warm and sunny
Number of Handouts given away: 212 (downstat!) - includes EVERYONE's contribution
Comments: a fairly quiet but still eventful picket
flier stats:
52 Convictions/What's Wrong
2 RTC/Communicate
50 Judges on Scn
75 Mint/Law
2 Xenu fliers
8 Lisa fliers
4 Rodney
5 Bowfinger
14 Tax/Lisa

212 total This is the number of fliers given out by all five of us. Good work, you guys! (Note: the total might be overstated by 10-20 fliers, since I gave some to Murdoch and Aaron when they were dropped off at Union Square, and I don't know yet whether they managed to give them away. I am confident, however, that they WILL be given out at some point, so I'm counting them anyway.)
----------------------------------------------- Familiar faces seen:

Frank
Josh
Mr. Get-Your-Facts-Straight
Lucretia
Ms. A
new: Guitarman

Familiar faces not present during this picket:

Jeff Quiros
Burly Guy
Craig
El Greco
Mr. Tall Thin Sea Org
Mr. Lady-I-Work-Here
Movie Star
Miss Pixie
----------------------------------------------- Note: Quotes may not be exact, since I didn't listen to my tape recording at all. Also, I occasionally rearrange the chronology slightly to enhance the narrative flow.

Photos at http://www.scientology-lies.com/picketphotos.000902.html - mostly pictures of the Scientologists this time, rather than the picketers. (For picketers, see http://www.scientology-lies.com/picketphotos.000805.html.)

BEFORE AND AFTER
================ As always, before heading out, I called the police to let them know we were on our way. Nothing to report there.

I did a few minutes of picketing on the corner near my home while waiting for Peaches to pick me up.

SHE'S RIGHT ON TIME
=================== Peaches and I got to the org right on time - just a minute or two after we started, we heard church bells tolling the noon hour. Peaches had on an exquisite blazer and a lovely print blouse. I, of course, was in my traditional red picketing jammies.

Just a few moments after we started, Murdoch and Aaron joined in, and we had a splendid foursome covering the sidewalk in front of the org.

SUNNY AFTERNOON
=============== The weather reports had been predicting clouds and rain all weekend. This is one reason I make a point of saying that the pickets are held rain or shine: San Francisco weather is so unpredictable that rain at 11:30 am may well give way to sunshine at 12:15.

Indeed, overcast skies turned into a lovely, warm, sunny summer day. I may have even gotten a bit of a sunburn.

Nice weather means more pedestrians and more flier distribution, so I was happy to see the blue skies appear.

SCIENTOLOGY: BREAKIN' THE LAW!
============================== I threw together a new flier for this month's picket by simply printing up the list of Scientology's Major Convictions from my http://www.scientology-lies.com/convictions.html page. (To be more accurate, I removed the Spain arrest, since that hasn't actually turned into a conviction yet, and I added the convictions in France and Greece from 1999. I'll try to update the page soon, too.) On the back, I put my "What's Wrong With Scientology?" flier.

I also printed up a bunch of "What Judges Say About Scientology."

Finally, I made up about 10 copies of a flier for Scientologists. On one side, it says, "Is RTC Squirreling the Tech?" with a list of some of the outpoints Safe and others have pointed out (including the six-month sec checks for OT7s).

On the other side, it says, "Communication is the Solvent" with bullet points urging the reader to communicate with critics, Scientologists practicing outside the church, the Lisa McPherson Trust, their families, and just about everyone in sight. Only Josh took one of these fliers, but I'll continue to have them available at future pickets.

I had run out of most of my canary-yellow paper, so all the new fliers (except the RTC/Communication ones for Scientologists) were printed on goldenrod - official color of SPs everywhere.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL
======================== I had a nice chat with a few folks along the walkway just west of the org. (Leavenworth dead-ends there, and a pretty constant flow of pedestrians uses the walkway to get to Market Street.)

As I was heading back toward the sidewalk, Murdoch mentioned to me that he'd just seen someone emerge from the org with the "Kristi Wachter - Religious Bigot" signs, and we decided to follow him to see if I could get a picture or two.

We caught up to him as he was loading the signs into his car.

(It looked like he had more than the two I've seen before - I wonder if they've made more?) It appeared to be a family affair - there were kids in the back seat. One of them gave me the finger - something I certainly wouldn't have done as a child.

(In fact, I don't think I'd do that as an adult. About the only time I flip someone off is in friendly jest to a close friend.)

The person in the passenger seat waved a small "Psychiatry Kills" sign at me. (I wonder if she was planning to picket with it - *I* could barely make out what it said, so I'm sure folks driving past my home would miss it entirely.)

The gentleman we had followed to the car called over to me "We're on our way to your house!" - two or three times, as if I hadn't heard him the first time. I called back, "Do you even know me?" but he didn't reply to that.

They drove off, and Murdoch and I returned to picketing. I learned later from the neighbors that only two revenge picketers were at my home, both adults, so perhaps the kids didn't join in the revenge picket.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT
================== A little while later, a police car double-parked in front of the org, and an officer got out of the car and went into the org. We continued picketing, fliering, and chatting amongst ourselves.

After yet another conversation with a pedestrian along the walkway, I turned around to see the officer talking with Murdoch and Peaches (and Aaron?). I hurried over to see if this was anything I needed to hear - although I'm sure that, if the officer felt the need to give me any directions, he would have made sure to approach me.

As it turned out, he was just telling us that we had the right to do what we were doing, and that we should just try to avoid arguing with the Scientologists. (Since our few interactions with the Scientologists thus far had been quite calm, I took this as a general caution, along the lines of "I had to come out here so I may as well offer a constructive pointer.")

I gathered from what the officer said that the org had actually called the police TWICE - once before we even showed up, and then once later on.

I was very pleased that the officer acknowledged our constitutional right to picket, and I hope the folks at the org recognize that right - just as I recognize that, in San Francisco, they have the right to picket my home. I mean geez - I didn't call the police on THEM.

CROSSTOWN TRAFFIC
================= The corner just east of the org is fed by traffic from South of Market; there are always a lot of cars from that direction.

Peaches tends to hang out down at that corner, giving everyone waiting for the light to change a good chance to read her signs.

As one herd of traffic moved through, a gentleman leaned out of his window and shouted something over to me, but I couldn't hear it over the roar of the traffic. He repeated himself several times, and finally I made out "Thank you - God bless you!" ... and then something else, also inaudible. With Peaches' help, I discovered he was asking for pamphlets.

To my dismay, he edged closer to the curb and stopped there, blocking traffic behind him and causing some angry honks. He got several fliers, though.

Later, it occurred to him to do it right, and he came back, pulled out of traffic, and got a few more fliers. He asked if we had plans to picket again, and I told him "first Saturday of every month", so perhaps we'll have another newcomer soon. (In fact, I told perhaps a half-dozen people that we're there the first Saturday of each month - maybe we'll have more than one newbie.)

WHO'S GONNA STEAL THE SHOW, YOU KNOW BABY IT'S THE GUITARMAN
============================================================ From very early in the picket, we noticed a gentleman sitting on the ledge in front of the org, playing an acoustic guitar and singing. We'd never seen that happen during pickets before.

Unfortunately, for the most part, we were so thoroughly engaged in picketing that we weren't able to listen to much of his music.

At one point, though, I noticed he was playing "Sweet Melissa"

(and quite well, I might add), so I took a little break and just stood nearby (careful to stay on the public side of the alleged property line, and careful to step from side to side, so that I was always moving), listening and enjoying his performance. When he finished, I wedged my sign handle under my chin and applauded and told him "That was very nice." He acknowledged the applause and went on to play something else, and I went back to traipsing up and down the sidewalk.

Later on, I noticed him having a somewhat animated discussion with Murdoch. I moved closer and listened in on their conversation. At a pause, I offered him one of my "Is RTC Squirreling" fliers and asked him if he was interested in the info I had about RTC. He declined the flier, but we had what I thought was a productive (if short) conversation before he headed across the street. (During the conversation, he declined to give his name or a nickname for my picket report, but then inadvertently did tell me h is name. Since he didn't mean to, though, I've chosen a nickname for him, which I hope he'll find apt.)

Toward the end of the picket, he came out of the org and loaded his guitar into his car. I told him I had enjoyed his playing and thanked him for sharing his music with us.

For his ability to have a calm conversation and for his lovely music, Guitarman wins the coveted Kristi's Favorite Scientologist of the Month award.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORIES
======================== To my dismay, Jeff Quiros didn't appear at this picket. There was an older man (actually he may not be any older than Jeff - but he does have much whiter hair) with a bit of a Sea Org/OSA look to him, walking around with a clipboard, who seemed like he MIGHT be doing OSA duty for the day, but it's hard to tell.

Josh (the cute young guy who, as far as I know, typically works reception) did photo duty, coming out to get pictures of all of us and returning for the second picket when Phr joined us.

In other news on the photo front, a very pleasant gentleman stopped by who said he was a freelance photographer doing a project on San Francisco: City of Protest. He chatted genially with us, then took a bunch of pictures. I mentioned the revenge picketers at my home and told him where they could be found. I don't know whether they were still there when he finally arrived - I'm told they only put in about an hour at my place.

ONE MOMENT IN TIME
================== We had several quick encounters with regular acquaintances from the pickets, both passersby and Scientologists.

The lady who always comes by and asks for a couple of Lisa fliers did so again this weekend. The gentleman who had told me before about the Life Magazine reporter approached me again and suggested some avenues for research.

As for Scientologists, Ms. A seemed to be about quite a lot; I think she's on staff, as I see her pretty much every Saturday.

Mr. Get-Your-Facts-Straight made a brief appearance (for a cigarette break, I think) toward the end of the picket. Frank (who talkeded with Murdoch and Adam when they first went into the org to get information) was there, mostly just hanging out by the door for a bit. Lucretia passed by on her way to and from the coffee shop; she greeted both Murdoch and me with "fuck off".

COME BACK AND STAY
================== Once again, HUGE thanks to Peaches for the ride to and from, and gratitude to everyone - Aaron, Murdoch, Peaches, and Phr - for joining in the picket.

The next regularly scheduled first-Saturday-of-every-month picket is October 7 from noon until 2 pm, rain or shine. See you then!

Kristi --
Kristi Wachter
the activist formerly known as "Jour" (before $cientology outed me) I think $cientology is hurting people and breaking the law, and I want them to stop it. See http://www.scientology-lies.com for more.

Can you say "Xenu?" ... I knew that you could.

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