You can’t avoid them. You keep your headphones on, and your eyes down — but it won’t stop them. I just need to avoid 13th and keep my head down, you think. But before you know it, a clipboard has been thrust under your nose and you’re a victim of the petitioner’s pounce.
“Do you have a minute to save children in Uganda? One signature could protect an entire wildlife civilization in Thailand! Denounce the Koch brothers! Sign here for equality! Save our rainforests! Get big money out of politics!”
Sheesh! Get out of my way! Enough, already! Okay I want all of those things, I mean they sound great…but is my signature really going to change anything? And what are the complexities behind this petition and these issues? Most of us never ask. We just run the gauntlet of clipboards and sloganeering and try avoid speaking to them at all costs.
Don’t get me wrong. Petitions can be really useful, even necessary, and sometimes they help bring important issues to light. But when you sign a petition, you are only receiving one side of the issue at hand. These issues are more complicated than simply putting your name on a piece of paper and voilà, problem solved!
Most petitioners are simply trying to do a difficult job. Dan Gottlieb, a petitioner on campus attempting to legalize marijuana, said that it wasn’t necessarily an enjoyable task.
“Well I’m just kind of sitting here … not really doing anything except collecting signatures,” Gottlieb said. However, “it is important because it lets people know what’s going on, and lets them show their support.”
While he didn’t know the specifics of how many signatures he needed to reach the campaign’s goal, he said he receives $10 an hour, even if his clipboard is empty at the end of the day. Some petitioners are paid by the signature, which presumably amps up their outreach since they stand to profit from everyone they can hook.
U of O senior, Amanda Williams, walked past him without signing.
“I’m usually in a hurry and don’t have time to listen to their spiels,” Williams said. “I don’t completely ignore them though.”
“I won’t sign if it is something I don’t agree with or if I don’t want the organization having my contact information,” she added. “I’m nice about it though. I’ll smile and sign if they need a lot of signatures, but often won’t include my phone number.”
Haylee Metzner a junior at the U of O, did stop to sign the petition.
“I don’t always sign, but this is something I really believe in,” Metzner said. “I don’t ignore petitioners. I understand that they are out here fighting for a cause that is important to them and other people. But sometimes I’m just not comfortable signing something I don’t know a lot about.”
Still, you have to keep petitions in perspective. A petition that recently came across my Facebook newsfeed was, “We Denounce the Koch Brothers!” Granted, the Koch brothers are bullies in the political world, but how is telling them that I don’t like them really going to foster change? It’s not going to take away their vast amount of wealth, or make them less powerful. But if you got in touch with the Starbucks barista that they frequent, that person could do some serious damage.
Change.org is an extremely popular website that is home to thousands of different petitions. Tomio Geron, a Forbes contributor, conducted an interview in 2012 with the founder of Change.org, and came to an interesting conclusion about how influential this website has been in seeing real change, but also how deceiving petitions can really be.
“Some of the petitioners FORBES spoke with didn’t know Change was a for-profit. Rattray says the .org connotes the company’s social mission, and it is a certified B Corporation, which means a social mission is written into its bylaws,” Geron said.
At the University of Oregon it is not necessary to obtain a permit to petition on campus. People can be, and are, out at any time, petitioning for literally anything. And sometimes the petitioner is paid to petition, so that person shoving the clip board in your face may have ulterior motives.
Here at the University of Oregon there are, on average, three petitioners for every squirrel. You can’t avoid them. Some days it’s like running a gauntlet. You duck. You dodge. Avoid eye contact. Pretend to be on the phone. Suddenly feel the urge to cross the street. Nothing helps. Just be careful what you sign. Petitions are pain free and that’s the problem.
Effective advocacy takes time, it takes effort and reflection and analysis. Petitioning is to politics what cupcakes are to nutrition. There’s a momentary rush but you know, deep down, it’s not good for you.