In the world of netroots outreach, one aspires to those inventive ideas that can capture the imagination of our audiences. My plan was to take a stack of six copies of my political novel, Doublethink, leave them on a shelf in a bookstore at San Francisco airport on the way out and see if they were still there when I returned a week later.
Hopefully, when someone picked up the book to buy it, even if the barcode wasn't in the system, the clerk would ring it up anyway. Then I could approach the bookstore and say, "see, your customers want to read this book. It's the perfect length for a cross country flight and entertains while it educates."
There would be a note glued in the back of each book asking the buyers to send me an email so I could let them in on the joke.
A few weeks ago, I met up with a friend who was waiting at the airport for a flight to the east coast. Since she's a Buddhist monk with a shaved head and a full black robe, I figured I shouldn't do anything to draw undue attention to her by implementing my plan that evening.
However, my husband and I scoped out the bookstore to pick just the right spot. It had to have enough visibility to attract prospective buyers, not to mention space, yet allow me to be out of range of the clerk's watchful eyes when I placed the books on the display stand. There were several ideal locations. I was good to go.
I had a business trip planned a few weeks later so I was ready and eager to put my plan in place. I was going to post the story on this blog before I left and then report on the results when I returned.
The week before my trip, as you all know, British police arrested 21 suspected terrorists in an alleged plot to use liquid/gel explosives on 10 airliners. The U.S. went on orange alert. Toothpaste, mouthwash, and shampoo were banished from carry-on luggage. TV news reports showed long lines, increased security, and large men with guns and dogs patrolling airports. Travelers to London couldn't even carry books. The airline website posted the latest travel restrictions.
It did not seem an auspicious time to pull a stunt that could be easily misunderstood.
Since I was due in Europe for a video shoot on behalf of a client, my colleague on the project didn't even want me to post this until we returned. Sadly, the same fears I had discussed in my novel were all too evident in reality. A harmless, playful gesture could result in unintended consequences.
What is that freedom our troops are protecting about again?
cross-posted on http://libertyandjustice4all.us