I started work today at noon in Van Zile. When I got here I noticed that there were two girls sitting at a table in the lobby collecting signatures on a petition. Over and over again I heard “Have you heard about the AIDS in Africa event/epidemic?” At which point they would ask people to sign their petition. I have a couple of problems with this.

Now before I go on, let me be clear…I understand that the continent of Africa has a serious problem with AIDS and I am not belittling that in any way or trying to say that people shouldn’t care or even want to sign petitions about it. My problem is this: almost all of the people that signed this petition in the last hour did so without really having any idea what it was about. There were some comments about money to help stop the epidemic and sending it to the government to make a statement, but most didn’t even ask those questions. What does it really mean to put your name on this petition? I doubt most of them even read the top of the sheet. The majority of the people who chose not to sign after being addressed did so simply because they were in too much of a hurry to stop.

To make matters worse, the girl who apparently organized the event and the petition left shortly after my shift started. That left her roommate; she had their little spiel memorized but really had no idea what she was talking about. I finally did hear a few people ask what they really hoped to accomplish with the petition. She didn’t know the answer. And people wonder why the world is so messed up! How can a person lobby for something and encourage others to sign a petition when they don’t even understand it themselves?

Currently Playing: Howie Day – Collide