“Thank you,” I said to the woman who took a leaflet from me. “What’s all this about then, something to do with Shell?” she asked. I gave a quick summing up of the campaign key messages:
- Shell wants to drill for oil in the arctic
- This is a bloody mental thing to do (I’m paraphrasing)
- We’re trying to stop them by taking action, in New Zealand and here, in Clapton, North London.
She nodded and walked on.
I always try to thank everyone who takes a leaflet. They don’t have to and plenty of people do their utmost not to. It’s especially nice when the campaign is as important as this one.
Drilling for oil in the arctic is such a bad idea that I fear it is beyond my abilities to convey it in words. The wanton destruction of it. The short-sightedness of it. The lack of an adequate contingency. The purposeful neglect of science.
And for what? A little bit of money.
So there I am, along with some hardy Waltham Forest souls outside a Shell station and the woman I just handed the leaflet to has stopped.
She’s reading the leaflet. She doesn’t look happy. I’ve seen that sort of look on other faces. I fear that a riposte of some description is on the cards... it wouldn’t be the first time.
At times like this it’s good to remember that when we campaign in public we don’t expect everyone to agree with us. We are here to raise awareness.
I know that Greenpeace networks from Bethnal Green, Camden and Islington are also out today, so I have confidence that many, many people in London are hearing our basic message: ‘Save the Arctic.’
Hopefully some of them will contact Shell CEO Peter Voser (as requested on the leaflet) to ask him what on earth he thinks he’s doing.
She’s coming over. She points to the leaflet. “Thank you,” she says. “I’m going home to do this right now.”
Her determined stride left me in no doubt that she probably did. Peter Voser’s life just got a little bit more uncomfortable. If he thinks having Xena Warrior Princess on his back is inconvenient, wait until angry middle-aged lady from Clapton gets him on the phone.
“Thank you,” I called after her, with a beaming smile.
Who’s next? This chap getting off the bus.
“Would you like a leaflet? We’re trying to save the arctic, oh, thank you.”
He stops. He starts reading...
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