Forum Post: "Ask Me Why I Occupy"

I am from Occupy San Diego, which at its core has a group of a few hundred dedicated people. San Diego is about the most difficult city to motivate in the entire United States, so a few of us were discussing ways to reach out to our community.

Personally, I protested the corrupt system alone three years ago. I stood outside the local Wal-Mart, and walked through parking lots around my neighborhood. My signs had phrases like, "When Will America Say, 'Enough is Enough?'", and "God Bless Our Military But I am Sick of Dishonest Politicians, and "Love One Another". It can be frustrating and lonely sometimes, but three years later I feel like my efforts back then weren't completely in vain.

We propose creating a simple sign with the words, "Ask Me Why I Occupy", and sending out people alone or in small groups to walk about their communities. We will proceed to engage in one-on-one or small group conversations, with whomever is willing to engage in civil conversation with us.

The proposed rules are as follows:

We need polite, witty, and courageous people to engage in one-on-one conversations with our fellow residents of (insert city here). Parking lots and transit stations are two areas which we discussed.

You must have a REAL story of how the ineptness of the 1% and their policies have smashed your life. Youth angst alone isn't going to cut it.

DO NOT support any political party or group except OWS.

Not speaking until spoken to is a MUST.

Prepare to be heckled, and prepare your strategy accordingly.

Prepare your counter-arguments for the usual skeptic's points. Just for example, "OWS was started by anarchists" can be countered with, "Well, the Kennedys were criminal bootleggers, and rose to power, and nobody seems to have issue with that."

This is not for everyone. We need "safe" representatives in order to reach out to a broader spectrum of people. Military veterans, parents, and the disabled are perfect for this type of "occupation".

Thank you for reading and I hope for any constructive input from my readers.