Adventures in Door Knocking (Part 1)

Today I knocked on my 1500th door!

People are excited I am making this effort. And they are frequently ready to talk. Because I am showing up at their homes, these are often people I wouldn’t encounter otherwise. These conversations have given me a great pulse on what the average person in Grande Prairie is thinking and feeling. They have also been a lot of fun!

I didn’t want to keep the learning and fun to myself. Since I started my campaign in April, I have taken care to write down my most notable conversations. Every weekend until October 16th, I will be sharing a few of these adventures with you.

Here are some of the people I have met:

A Big Hop Down

A woman had a small dog fence across her front step. Being tall and somewhat spry, I stepped over it to ring the doorbell. She commented "I like having someone young enough to do that running for Council." We had a great conversation, then I turned to leave. The hop down was bigger than the hop up. I tripped and fell down her steps. I got up slightly embarrassed, but unhurt. I want to work hard to show her my mind is more nimble than my body!

Remembering All Citizens

A senior took me into his workshop to show me his hobby wood projects. He talked about having friends who are in assisted living and missing their shops. He suggested that someone in Grande Prairie should offer a facility for them to use. He even offered to donate his tools. I hope his idea gets consideration. Whether or not this project happens, we need to work hard to give our seniors more opportunities to keep their bodies active and their minds sharp.

Building a Reputation

A young couple told me “we won’t waste your time- we won't vote because we’re moving away from Grande Prairie next month.” We ended up chatting anyways. It turns out that they were going to Lethbridge despite never having visited it before. They explained that there is nothing wrong with GP, they were just looking for a change and “we heard Lethbridge is a great city.” We need to work hard to build a reputation like that in the eyes of people who have never visited Grande Prairie.

Other Adventures in Door Knocking

I will be posting stories from door knocking every week until October 16th. In the meantime, you might be interested in reading this post about hitting my 1000th door, or this post about an emotional conversation I had on a front step.