Picket report, Oct 19, 2002.

We picketed longer than usual (1-3 pm) because the camera battery ran down and the camera was off for a while. My side of the street was dull. Handed out a good number of flyers, perhaps 100 and ran clear out of Parsonage ones again. Chris and Gregg handed out at least 50 each.

Chris went down a few minutes before Gregg did. He reports that the body routers they had out (first time in ages) quit 10 seconds after he showed up and that Mario was visibly steaming. They saw him and immediately went inside and put down their pamphlets. Then Gregg showed up and they closed the Dianetics Foundation door. Chris said it's like they'd been instructed that they were not to share a sidewalk with him. He continually find that behaviour very odd.

I might get more report material out of Gregg about the picket tomorrow, and Chris said he would post more detail about the picket, but I wanted the report up in time to make WIR.

Keith Henson

From: "Christopher Wood" <cwood@NOSPAMxenu.ca>
Subject: Toronto Picket Report 2002-10-19
Message-ID: <caHs9.1024$Zy4.179056@news20.bellglobal.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 19:40:57 -0400
Organization: Bell Sympatico

Picketers: Me, Gregg, Keith.

Leaflets: Xenu/Crimes, Property Tax, Hubbard's Science/Judges. (30 of the latter passed out by me, didn't get a count from the others.)

Pre-picket: Meet Gregg and Keith at Starbucks. Quoth Gregg: "they're body-routing." Quoth me: "Yup."

(Off-topic note: It's probably too late in the season for frozen drinks immediately prior to a cold-weather picket. Or so I have learned.)

When we'd finished our coffee-like beverages, Gregg and Keith headed to the car to get their stuff, and I wandered up to the org.

When I arrived, the body routers looked at me, and I looked back at them.

I even offered a leaflet in their general direction. After a short three-count, both body routers went inside the Dianetics bookstore and put down their leaflets. Mario then came outside and looked up and down the street. I said something along the lines of "if you're looking for the others, they'll be along shortly." I could almost swear he uttered something unprintable.

We picketed for two hours, with no actual problems. Some events of note:

The org had a wooden table plus canopy out. Once the wind gusted pretty high, and blew the canopy (canvas on light metal struts) right across the sidewalk. So, I moved it back. Didn't get any Scientologists complaining at me or about me, which was novel - in the past the org has complained about me leaning my sign against the building and picketers walking under the canopy (which overlies the public sidewalk).

The big poster in the Dianetics bookstore window which says "Dianetics is a Science of the Mind" is a great lead-in to my leaflet which quotes some of the racist, homophobic and just plain nutso parts of Dianetics.

One guy stopped and said, "Buddy, do you think anyone's going to look at your sign? When they see 'Scientolology' - ", at which point I groused about negative reinforcement, and pointed out that he could at least be encouraging. So he did in fact say something encouraging.

It was traffic jam day on Yonge Street, due to some construction to the south (On College, iirc). This got me plenty of honk acks, and the odd passenger in a car wanting a leaflet. I know it's probably some form of traffic violation if I give them leaflets, but my experience in the past is that if I don't give these people leaflets then they end up blocking traffic. So I pass over the leaflet and move on.

In the station a person asked about my sign, and quizzed me on why I started picketing, and just what I found so objectionable about the cult.

This person got a leaflet, and a quick rundown of 'what's wrong with Scientology?' Quote from early in the conversation: "I already know a lot of good about Scientology." Must have some friends in the cult, as most everybody who reads the newspaper has figured out that there's something not quite right in theta-land.

On the way home, another person asked about my sign, and got a leaflet.

It's the first time somebody's asked that close to home. (Their dog didn't even bark at me. Now how's about that?)

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