So, ya can't make it out to all the excitement in Madison? And you've already tapped yourself out by giving to ActBlue (hope you sent an email to a Republican WI senator saying thanks for the fundraising effort on the behalf of the Dem party) and buying pizzas from Ian's? Well, help get money from other people. A couple bucks at a time. At the hip, artsy, lefty, locally-owned, fair-trade, slow-food, funky, community minded co-op of a pizza joint, coffee shop, taco stand, or dive bar. If that's not your scene, stop by the cop bar, firefighter bar, and union bar. Don't forget the breakfast joint that always has the plant operations folks there at 7 in the morning. And that greasy spoon that always has a bunch of electrician trucks out front at lunch. And the after work watering hole for the people that work at the local university. You get the point.
Tip 1: Find a place that you can set up a collection jar. Think about what's in your town. Go somewhere that you usually go, that you have a relationship with the owner and workers. Or, if your feeling adventurous, go meet some new neighbors. Are you a skinny college-kid? Go to the F.O.P. hall. Gray-haired housepainter? Swing by the hipster cafe. Meet some new folks that might be surprisingly cool when you all see each other on the same side. Whatever. Go somewhere.
Tip 2: Go prepared. Write something down. Bring a little sign with you. Half-page flyers with additional info. Whatever helps YOU get the point across quickly. Also, think about the place your going, the customers that go there and what kind of message will work best. For example, at the college pizza joint, let people know they are pitching in to beat back the Republican-led corporate rape of our nation. At the cop bar, it's all about union rights.
Tip 3: Give the owners the tools the need. I posted this diary yesterday that might be helpful in figuring out where to send any money collected. If they say it's too much of a hassle, offer to pick up the cash, and call in a donation for that amount yourself. Hopefully they'll realize that that is strange, and they'll just end up agreeing to handle the whole thing.
Tip 4: Give 'em some love. Tell your friends, post on facebook, blog, and just generally get the word out that "When you go to Jack's Pizza, you can buy a slice for the demonstrators" or "Jill's Grocery is accepting cash donations".
Tip 5: Make it personal: Let the people around you know that this matters to you.
Tip 6: Make it tangible: They're buying coffee for a working class hero freezing out there. They're buying a pie to help one of the largest, longest, most peaceful demonstrations in the history of this nation. They're buying tampons and toothpaste for the regular folks that are doing something extraordinary right now.
The worst-case scenario is that you meet some people in your neighborhood.