OBSTREPEROUS

OHIO COLLECTS MORE THAN 716,000 SIGNATURES

As we are winding down the campaign to collect signatures for the referendum to repeal Senate Bill 5, I am pleased to report that in the two months and twenty events which we have staged, I have had only two incidents of people being unprofessional.

Outside of the Hike For Hospice event, we had set up table and chairs to collect signatures. A local car dealer came to the table and asked, in a loud voice, "Who gave you permission to do this?" I crossed my arms and said in a very quiet voice, "As long as we maintain access and egress and do not hinder passersby, we are within the law and do not need permission." He asked, in an even louder voice, "Who gave you a permit?" I answered, still in a quiet voice, "As I stated previously, sir, as long as we maintain access and egress and do not hinder passersby, we are within the law and do not need a permit." He must have been disappointed that his attempted intimidation was unsuccessful. He shouted, as he mounted his large truck, "I'll see about this!" I laughed and said, "Tell Mr. Denen to stop by and sign!" Later, a participant in the Hike called me and said, "The women over here at the registration table are talking and one of them said, "Well, SHE says she has the right to be there!" I said, "Tell them to capitalize the "S" on she!"

Outside of the U.S. Post Office a man approached the table and said, "I wanna see your permit!" I answered, very quietly, "Sir, as long as I maintain access and egress and do not hinder passersby, I do not need a permit." He continued, "I checked with the police and this is solicitation and that is against the law." I replied, "Perhaps you should check with the boss of the police--the City Manager." He stated that his wife had been there earlier and we had "solicited" her. I said, "No, she was asked if she had signed and whether she wanted to sign."

He became very agitated and said, "You people put yourself above all others and think you're better than everybody else." I replied, "Sir, your saying "you people" is a ridiculous generalization; you are making assumptions without any basis in fact; you do not know me nor do you know anything about me so you're just being totally illogical." He said, incongruously, "You don't know nuthin' about me neither!" I answered, "And I have no desire to know anything about you but I won't be making any assumptions about you!" He pointed to his tee-shirt with the name of a business and said he was the owner of the business. I did not respond and he became very irate and said, "You think you're better than everybody else." I ignored him once again. He then threatened to go to the "cops"; I said, "Go right ahead, but you're being disingenuous because you said you'd already been to the cops." He said, "Oh you think you're smarter than me using big words!" I answered, "Disingenuous? that's a little word in my family; go home and look it up!" He said, "You're so smart; you won't think you're so smart when the cops come!" He continued his rant and I said, "Sir, you need to leave because you are being OBSTREPEROUS!" He said, "That's not even a word." My friend interjected, "Yes it is; she's the best sesquipedalian I know." I said to my friend, "Oh, what was the word of the day--OBTEST?" She and I laughed and she said, "Yes, that's it." I said, "Thou doest OBTEST too much, sir" He stormed away and my friend called the police and filed a report.

When I went home and related the incident, my brother asked, "Was he packing heat?" That certainly gave me pause for thought. I'll still be collecting signatures until June 29, but I WILL NOT engage in any more contretemps, especially knowing about the crazy gun laws in Ohio. I am sincerely grateful for all of the well-mannered people in Fayette County who declined to sign the petition, but more than that, I am grateful to the people who signed as Fayette County has more than 3 times the needed 3%!

WE ARE OHIO!

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