The Popsicle of Mercy

by IM Member Gloria E.

It was so hot on Sunday afternoon that every single person that I talked to while canvassing offered me cold water. People often do that in the summer, but this was extreme. I declined because I knew I had ice water in the car, and to avoid unnecessary use of plastic bottles.

But when a young couple offered me a popsicle, I couldn’t refuse. The icy temperature, the sweetness, the pieces of mashed fruit…. It was wonderful and memorable. As I ate it and talked to them in their garage, I found it was a bit of a turning point in their lives. The wife was a nurse, a pediatric ICU nurse! Her husband had just taken his nursing exam online, a few hours ago. He was waiting for the results, and if positive, they were ready to move back to Georgia where their family lived. They had had enough of raising a small child without family around.

They weren’t the voter listed at that house, so I never learned their names, but it got me thinking. In homes, and especially in apartments where I canvas, I often meet people who have just moved in, and sometimes meet people who are planning to move very soon (relevant because I’m telling them about an upcoming election, so they want to let me know if they won’t be in Duval for it.) Even if we get onto another topic, I try to be sure to end our conversation by wishing them good luck in the new location.

People do a lot of moving in our society, driven by necessity or hope. Even in pleasant neighborhoods, people don’t seem to know any neighbors anymore (except for the dog walkers, of course). Welcome wagons, if they exist, are sponsored by local merchants, not neighbors. We have all lost something that helps make life better in good times and bad. The momentary experience of meeting someone while canvassing can sometimes create the kind of interaction that people really need as they deal with turning points their lives. And it allows the canvasser a real, if short, experience of special connection.