I was walking down North Gate here, and I realized that there was this tall guy walking slowly towards me. He was wearing a T-shirt from an environment-support organization, and I immediately had a feeling that I should be walking past without even giving him a minuscule amount of attention -- but, I always do that, and this time around I actually felt slightly bad for walking away. You see, there's so much of environment talk doing the rounds, and I am a concerned denizen -- so...'let's hear him out' I said. This was kind-of the conversation between this guy and me --
Guy -- Hey, wassup man, how's it goin'?
Me -- Hey ... nothing much .. 'sup ?
Guy -- Do you have a minute for our environment, man ?
Me -- Well, let's hear it ... (dude, I stopped despite noticing your T-shirt ... you bet I have a minute indeed!!)
Guy -- Alrite man!! I am XYZ ... (shakes hand)
Me -- Debanjan ... nice to meet you
Guy -- So have you heard about us ?? (doesn't stop for me to say anything) We are a global organization, fighting for our environment. I am not here today to sign you up or make you our member or something. I just want to tell you about some of the work we do ... we are non profit , and we work with donations by our members. We have chapters in Berkeley and also all throughout US (I thought that was what Global meant anyways, but yeah ...) ... and ....
Me -- (fitting in small stretches of 'Nice!', 'That's cool!', 'Interesting!' in between the long speech)
Guy -- ... and, the agenda of our work has been so far well implemented at many locations .. and ... and ... (comes to a sudden awkward pause, and looks at the papers in his hand)
Me -- (looking at him with questioning eyes)
Guy -- (sudden blurt) So, do you believe in People Power??
Me -- (hainh !!!!) Ummm ... well okay ...
Guy -- Then let's get you signed up man !! Every minute we waste, we are throwing 'n' acres of land into disaster. We can't waste any time in getting you signed up ... here's ... (starts taking out a set of forms)
Me -- (really now !!! I thought you were not signing members here ... what happened midway, am I that eligible a candidate for being a member!!) Well, actually, can I have a look at the form, and then let you guys know in a day or two. Do you have online membership forms?
Guy -- Online forms ?? Er ... yeah, we do have online forms ... they can be filled online ...
Me -- Cool!! Then I will fill it up online. Thanks a lot dude, for introducing me to your organization, was a pleasure ..
Guy -- (now recovered fully ... gets himself back) Thanks for your time man!!
P.S: Though the above post might seem biased, but I have NOTHING against environmental organizations -- in fact, I think they are doing a good job of keeping people aware and getting something done. It's only that sometimes you wish people approached the task of presenting these organizations to the masses in a more serious and proper manner.
(Just when we thought our days down in the lab are not eventful by any means -- our building caught a fire !! It was a very small sporadic burst though, lasted about 10 - 15 mins)
