10-22-2007
I landed in San Francisco without a job under my belt, so I grabbed the first thing that came along… It was a job affiliated with the Sierra Club… and what a nice, friendly group this was, too! And what a good cause! John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892. His writings about the Sierra helped inspire Teddy Roosevelt to form the National Park system. John Muir is one of the very few individuals who appears on one of our commemorative quarters — the California quarter! John Muir and the Sierra Club sound as though they were be easy to ‘sell’. This current job was intended to raise donations to the Sierra Club’s work to fight against global warming. What could be more progressive than that? I would have loved if it was phone work. Unfortunately, it turned out to be door-to-door canvassing for donations. This turns out NOT to be something I can do well, or with real enthusiasm, –even for such a good, good cause as John Muir’s Sierra Club. My first day on the job was especially tough, because I walked about 5 miles up and down and around town, then was invited to start work that same afternoon, and walked another 5 miles up till 9:30 at night. I didn’t have the requisite flashlight. I didn’t have the rain gear — because a constant exposure to thick mist felt just like rain after an hour or so. This was so, so different from my life in the DESERT regions of the arid Southwest over the past 7 or 8 years! I quickly found I was just no good at canvassing for donations… even for something as worthwhile as the Sierra Club! I hated the way people’s faces sank when I mentioned ‘global warning’. I didn’t enjoy bothering people at home, knocking on their doors while they were playing with their kids, watching a playoff game, or making or eating dinner! No, no, no! I don’t know how those guys “do it”, it sure isn’t for me! But canvassing for donations DID leave me with the feeling that maybe my PHONE CAMPAIGN to get readings and do transit-updates for people wasn’t so bold and daring a move after all… At least when I phone people they don’t have to put their pants on, like they do if I knock on their door! So, don’t get me wrong — I would NEVER go door-to-door canvassing for Astrology or Psychic readings. But maybe the concept of cold-calling over the phone for them is not as extreme a measure as some of my friends have warned me it is…. Cold-calling / solicitations / canvassing door-to-door jobs are a ‘happenin’ ‘ thing here in The City. Too bad it is TBE most unpleasant and intrusive way of contacting people ever discovered! Much worse than a simple ‘jingle on the phone’.
The walking itself isn’t bad. Walking the streets is the only way to really see San Francisco. And even though it is exciting to find my modest hotel room is only 1-1/2 blocks away from more than 30 different restaurants, 10 bars, 6 markets, and 3 book stores, there is not any sense of the presence of the psychic or astrological arts here in San Francisco anymore. Something drastic has happened over the past 10 years, I’m not sure what. Perhaps the gentrification of the City has also led to the exclusion of the psychic arts. Nothing has come near to replacing the Metaphysical Town Hall bookstore of 25 to 35 years ago. Not even the Psychic Eye, which continues on in Southern California, has been able to stay open here in the City. I’m still not sure what it is. Are people here TOO “matter-of-fact” rational? Of course, I know for a fact that there is nothing more “matter of fact rational” than astrology. But only a very few people know that. Others will have to learn, and that means, being taught.
So, this is ALL STARTING TO COME TOGETHER, now! I have arrived in town at an auspicious time in which I can find exactly the right place, the right ‘angle’ that I can progressively work my way into. There is evidently NO awareness of astrology on the “streets of San Francisco”. This awareness is something I can bring about with a campaign to reach as many people with the “News” as I can. Hey. I believe in it. I can do it! Sure, it isn’t for everyone, just as canvassing the neighborhoods of Marin County, knocking on doors for the Sierra Club isn’t for everyone, either.