My column about petitions was more topical than I thought. Last week, members of Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group — whew, that’s a mouthful, right? — were out collecting John Hancocks to support their $2 student fee increase.
I won’t give up my opinion on the increase. I’m one-third of the The Torch’s editorial board and if you want to know what I really think, we’ll be writing about it later on the Opinion page.
My beef with OSPIRG is not its mission.
It’s the attitude of the folks asking me to sign their petition.
Here’s how it typically goes:
I’m minding my business.
Some nameless OSPIRG’er realizes that I’m minding my business. That is a signal to them that they should ask me if I want to sign their petition.
“Do you want to sign a petition to support OSPIRG?”
“No,” I’ll say.
“Do you even know what it’s for?” They respond.
“Yes,” I’ll say.
They don’t believe me and give me a dirty glare as if I am not giving them the time of day they deserve.
The truth is: I actually do know a lot about OSPIRG. As a member of The Torch’s editorial board, I have to.
The reason I don’t sign their petition is not because:
A) I’m egotistical and I believe that my mission is most important.
B) I’m uneducated about OSPIRG.
C) I once supported OSPIRG and didn’t get offered one of those “I support OSPIRG” stickers.
Here are three actual reasons I don’t sign:
A) I’m a journalist and I’d rather not get involved.
B) I’d rather not run the risk of having someone phish my e-mail account and have a relative buy drugs from someone they think is me. (See my previous column).
C) I know how they treat people who don’t support their cause. Those petitioners — who I doubt know my name, face or office phone number — must think I am totally against progress.
Two different petitioners solicited me last week. Others have in the past. Both who claimed to be from OSPIRG gave me the same reaction when I said I didn’t want to sign:
A deep, dark glare.
Managing Editor Andy Rossback is at 541-463-5109 or a.rossback@gmail.com
