A few weeks ago I wrote a diary based on my actions involving the channel switch from Fox News to the Weather channel in my breakroom at work. I'm sorry to say, but the change only lasted a mere 4 days and the ugly Faux News has been restored uninterrupted and unitelligible as before. I wrote the diary on a Friday and had rethug trolls on it within hours fishing for info. I put too many obvious details about what company I worked for,and did not hide my email which was my name in reverse. Although I did not get fired, a strange thing happened on the following Tuesday and stranger things since that Daily Kos post which I deleted out of fear for my job.
The Tuesday after the diary post, I was working on my line as usual. We were having mechanical problems so as to slow our line down, and I looked behind me as something had caught my eye. It was the owners, all suited up, looking directly at me and whispering. All the line could see this, and they stayed for approximately 20 minutes just watching our line. One of our senior crew members came up to me and asked me what I had done to deserve such scrutiny. He had never seen them in his 15 years at the company out on the line in that manner. So I told him the truth. I had written in to ask to switch Faux news to the Weather channel because it was derogatory to our illegal workforce and was stirring certain people up. I told him of my Daily Kos posting, and the Rethug trolls that commented on it and threatened to call the police chief of the town on me(for a diary no less!-ha). Within a few days, the word had spread around our part of the factory. And what has transpired is nothing short of amazing.
People I have never met, never spoke to, have come to me on my break, while I have been working, and congratulated me on my activism. It seems sticking it to the man, along with their offensive take of the Faux news spin has made me a cause in their own right. I am so, so glad I did what I did. Now I can start conversations about Obama, and I am the undeniable leader on the floor when it comes to politics and Obama. Half our crew is latino, and once they found I did this for Obama (well that's the spin and I'm not able to correct it-my spanish is terrible), I get thumbs up and back slaps from very senior(no pun) latino workers who add a big welcoming smile. Very heart warming was a man on my line who I had pegged as the most racist of all. I had heard him say a few months ago something like 'I aint voting for that, I guess it'll be McCain but I don't like republicans at all'. He came up to me as we were walking back to our line last night and said how it was all the republicans fault for the shit we are in. I looked him square in the eye and said that I know he's have a problem voting for Obama, given all his comments. He said he'd changed his mind and would definately vote for Obama now. Bandwagon affect no doubt, but I playfully announced his decision to our line and they all slapped him on the shoulders and he smiled and said 'yea, well fuck that old McCain'. Since then I can tell a new attitude on our line, and the latinos that hated him are actually working with him and him with them. It's fucking amazing. I just shake my head and smile.
The cautionary part is don't be stupid like me and put a bunch of specific clues in your diary, especially if your an activist without a clue like me. But you know something, this couldn't have worked out better. If they hadn't changed the channel back, and came down to our line for some sort of intimidation watch, then none of this Obama talk would have been possible. A progressive salute to the Kossacks and Daily Kos for making it possible to screw up and be redeemed.
To paraphrase Obama's motto, and what our line says with a laugh-Yes we fucking can!