Adventures At The Phone Bank
Episode 9/7/08
The "N Word"

So, I scraped together a little time today to go down to Obama HQ and work the phone bank. I only had about two hours, and didn't have much luck. On my very last call of the afternoon, I gave my usual spiel: "Hello, this is Winston Smith calling from the blah blah blah, is John Smith home? We're calling to ask a few quick questions, which, of course, you have no obligation to answer." The guy on the other end says "This is John Smith." "Hi Mr. Smith. We're wondering if you'd be willing to tell us whether you're planning to vote for Senator Obama in the general election?" John "F*ckhead" Smith's answer: "No, I don't vote for n*****s." My response: "You s...." I stopped myself from saying "sonofabitch," forcefully representing to myself the greater cause, and the remotely possible headlines, "Local Man Cursed Out By Obama Volunteer." Still, I sure would like the opportunity to punch that guy in the head. He hung up immediately, which is probably good for everybody concerned.

Anyway, there's that, in case you forget about the kind of folks we're up against, or delude yourself about the nature of our periodically great nation.