Making a Four-Year-Old Happy at East Croydon Rail Station
What's it like passing out XR leaflets to strangers?
Dear Human of Planet Earth,
Actually, leafleting just outside East Croydon station was fun.
And half the fun was enjoying people’s responses.
We three Extinction Rebellion leafleters passed out about 300 leaflets and lots of XR stickers.
I’m not a sticker person, so the only person who got a sticker from me was a cute three (or four?) year old who asked me for one!
You can see our sticker on Mr T’s pink T-shirt if you haven’t already.
Oh, now you want to see the actual flyers?
Well, here they are. I saved a couple, just so you could read them at Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical. Take a look! They’re made with thin plain paper, meaning they’re easily recyclable. And they come complete with QR codes, so folks can sign up easily for spending time with XR at Marble Arch next weekend.
And I discovered, thanks to writing to you, that the QR codes work in the pics uploaded to this newsletter! So I might have handed out 100 flyers last Sunday, but if you share this article just once, you can help get the word out too! Together, we can reach another 100 people.
How People Responded
There were the policemen in uniform who politely muttered, ‘We can’t,’ when I offered them flyers. Nonetheless, they must have been pleased to observe that the handing out of flyers is completely within the law!
One lady asked if we were XR, and then gave a thumbs-up and a grin.
One guy decided to be sarcastic, but with such a dry expression mismatched with his enthusiastic voice, at first I thought he was serious. The exchange went like this:
Him: I love it when you all shut London down. When are you doing that again?
Me: I don’t know.
Him: What do you mean? You’re supposed to know! And are you gluing yourself to a train? You should!
Me: No way.
Him: You should. I love it when you do that. Are you going to get arrested?
Me: Not on your life! Are you coming to join us at Marble Arch? It’s not all about getting arrested…
The conversation broke off as there were flyers to hand out. The fellow stood some feet away, observing for a while. His dry humour reminded me of my husband’s. That’s the kind of thing he’d say, just not to a stranger.
Another guy took the leaflet and began to read it. He turned right around and handed it back, ‘Yes, he said. But not the way you’re doing it.’
‘Fair enough,’ I said to him, as he strode off.
Excellent, I thought. He knows there’s a problem that needs addressing. He doesn’t have to agree with what he perceives are XR’s methods.
Another man stopped to chat for a whole ten minutes or so. It was definitely a ‘me too’ moment. But not at all like #MeToo.
More like:
Him: I worry it might be too late.
Me: Me too. But we don’t know for sure, so we have to act anyway, do what we can.
We commiserated over our numerous shared concerns, and he told me of the days when everything was made in Britain and every town had its specialty. He linked the economic neglect of British towns as globalisation kicked-in, with Brexit, and the rise of political demagoguery diminishing our politics to what he fears is now ‘End Game Politics’ in which nobody will win. Years ago he prayed for Thatcher’s premiership to come to an end, but now he compares her to the ‘current lot’ and says regretfully that at least Thatcher had a brain.
Did I say he stopped to chat? In his soft voice, this fellow who might have been anywhere between seventy-five and a fit eighty-five, poured out his grief for country and climate.
He worried that people didn’t understand what was really happening. Just the fact that they wanted to ‘get back to normal’ after Covid was evidence of that.
I worried he might miss his train but he was sure he had a few minutes. He apologised for ‘boring me’. I reassured him he had done no such thing. But his sadness lingers with me, even now.
A bright-eyed little boy of about three or four stood at the edge of Costa’s café area and stared at me intently. I looked for his parents, but couldn’t tell who they were for sure. The boy seemed happy though, and in response to his engaging smile, I gave him a little wave.
Then he ran back to his folks, excited, ‘She waved! She waved at me!’
Well, at least I was reassured his grown-ups were nearby!
Then he got braver and spoke to me. He asked if he could have a sticker.
Ohhhhhh!!!!!!!
Well, I’d practically forgot about the roll of stickers on my arm.
I consulted with my fellow XR leafleter. We agreed I should get his grown-ups’ permission. But where were they?
I thought of all the Safeguarding Rules I learned from PFA volunteering. Was talking to this sweetheart even within the Rules?
‘Well, you can have this sticker but are you sure it’s okay with your parents?’
‘Yes!’ came a shout from the café area.
I handed over the sticker, grateful for the still faceless shouts of his grown-ups.
He ran off, delighted, for his grown-ups to help him place his sticker.
For the most part, leafleting at the station was a very basic business of stretching out an arm with a flyer at the end, and saying in a cheerful, respectful voice to everyone passing by,
‘Hello, Sir.’
‘Good morning, Madam.’
‘Hello Miss.’
‘Hello!’
‘Good morning!’ Because sometimes people present themselves in such a way they might well be communicating being non-binary. And why piss anyone off on a beautiful Sunday morning?
‘Thank you.’
‘Enjoy the Carnival.’ Because some commuters were clearly heading for Notting Hill Carnival, draped in the Jamaican flag as they were.
‘Something to read on the train?’
I offered leaflets to Carnival go-ers, hijabis, men, women, young, old, locals, tourist-looking types, cyclists, folks with full hands (and some of them took a leaflet!), the curious, the disinterested, those who made eye contact and those who didn’t.
Some people tucked their leaflets away immediately, to be found and viewed later - or even next year. Others began to read right away. Maybe, some even signed up for the Marble Arch event!
Why not take a minute and sign-up now? The QR code is on the last three leaflet photos, in case you missed it.
And *Bonus*, I met Mrs A, who did something amazing!
Mrs A spent six months abroad. She used trains and buses to journey from one end of the US to the other. Why? Because why fly when you can use public transport?
I hope to talk to Mrs A at length about her inspiring travel adventure. And if I do, I’ll be sure to share it with you.
Till next time, I leave you,
With Love,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical,
Croydon,
London,
That patch of earth known today as the United Kingdom
Lat +51.51 Long, -0.118
PS, I want to hear more about how Citizen’s Assemblies work. And I want to meet, speak with and listen to the people who’ll be gathered at Marble Arch. Will you be there over the 10th-13th September?