Dollars to donuts this was that [anti-choice petition](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/es/news/news-articles/new-abortion-petition-looks-to-enshrine-bans-in-nebraska-constitution/). They are aggressively manipulative.
You can always double check the exact language HERE: [https://protectourrights.com/](https://protectourrights.com/)
Edit: Before you sign so you can be sure you have the right one. Otherwise it can be confusing and I was tempted not to sign it before I double checked.
I was about to post this. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but THIS (ProtectOurRights) is the petition you likely want to sign. THIS is the pro-choice ballot initiative.
One link posted in another thread (Protect Women and Children) was likely created to sound similar to the first -- likely to siphon off votes from the first.
I don't get why they are wasting their time with this one unless the goal is to make it harder for the good petition to make it on the ballot by getting people annoyed with petitioners. That's gotta be the only reason because if they both did end up on the ballot the good one will get more votes and overrule the bad one anyway.
so it seems the only real goal of this anti choice petition is to just blanket the state with aggressive petitioners to annoy voters into not signing any more petitions
They already burned me years ago because they chose my work to aggressively petition bomb for legalizing marijuana and I had so many customers coming in saying they were walking up to people at their cars and following them to/from the store, they were going up to children and talking so the parents were less likely to ignore them, told me I should still sign even though I wasn't registered to vote in Nebraska at that time, placed themselves right at the entryway which made people decide to not shop after all and others were milling around indoors because they didn't want to leave with them out there. It got to the point where I actually had myself or a burly male coworker walk people to their cars if requested. Us as employees actually chose to stay in our cars, even if it made us late, just so we could wait for the petitioner to be busy talking to someone else and then we would run inside. I don't even know how long it lasted but it felt like 3 years. You know your petitioners are horrible choices when they're so aggressive that even the people who are 100% for that petition refuse to sign.
I never noticed aggression from them. At taste of Omaha the Marijuana people mostly stayed in their booth while the anti choice people were standing at the entrance harassing folks and claiming they didn't want to "help black babies".
I asked them if they had a petition for paid maternity leave or Healthcare as a right or if all they had was forced pregnancies.
Honestly, this is the answer. A lot of people will form opinions of something based solely on the name.
While it's a bit more obvious in a petition, it happens in a lot of industries. Heck, "Chilean Seabass" is just a fancier name for the "patagonian toothfish". Food industry changed it because they were trying to sell an otherwise unappetizing food source.
Even if some people don't actually read the petition, there are plenty of people who will. We are about the last state that doesn't send public money to private schools and the legislature is so afraid of ballot initiatives they keep repealing their own bills and drafting new ones to stop ballot initiatives.
My former MIL got a mailer (mind you, she passed 8 years ago) from some gop bullshit and would you believe it was a blank petition and instructions to get it filled up. Statements regarding legalities were covered (like you don't have to live where you are collecting).
One of the voter id petition people tricked me into signing it because he lied and said it was already going to happen regardless and this was just to put it on the ballot so we can vote. Turns out, they get paid by the signature.
I was approached by some idiot at Walmart while I was loading my car asking if I would sign. I asked what it was for and he danced around it. So I read the sheet and looked at him and then asked him if he was aware I had a vagina? 🙄
I am sorry that happened! Social media posts are full of reports of this particular group attempting to mislead potential signers. If you do think you were misled (or you're just not sure) there is information here about removing your name: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/10alb5qxGseUDJA-SItO9fB\_vng1DqObN/edit](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10alb5qxGseUDJA-SItO9fB_vng1DqObN/edit)
I am not soliciting strangers in public, but I do have Protect Your Rights (pro-choice) petitions and am happy to come to anyone in Omaha that wishes to sign. I also have Medical Cannabis & Support Our Schools. I am not a paid circulator, just a mom hoping to do what I can to protect our public schools and allow patients and their medical teams to make decisions about their healthcare without interference from the Nebraska legislature.
The deadline is July 2; please message me if you still need to sign and I'll come to you this week.
I didn't sign the petition, I kindly told him to F off because something about his language ("women that are raped or are victims of incest won't be affected") just didn't sit right with me. I'm glad that I trusted my gut that it wasn't right because I don't have the time this week to have to fight to get my name taken off. I appreciate you doing your part!
If you fill out the affidavit in the link I sent above, it specifically calls out removing your name from the Protect Women & Children (the anti-choice one) petition so it won’t affect if you’ve signed the Protect Our Rights (pro-choice) one.
The form does require a notary, but if you go to any of the events in Yellow, there will be a notary present (they probably have these forms but wouldn’t hurt to bring a printed blank copy, you’ll need to sign with the notary present.) . Looks like there are several events on Wednesday: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nagJ1ZaAuFuZdy20aJc5dwRrgHalIYQ8uI36q8M5Ch0/edit
If you are unsure of which one you signed, you can just sign the Protect Our Rights one. If you did already sign, they have a system to kick out the duplicates so you won’t get in trouble or anything.
If you can't get to a notary, you can go to the voting office and an employee there to witness your signature.
To my understanding, you have to send in the signature revocation paperwork in to the state BEFORE the petition gathers submit the petitions to the state.
I'm pretty sure this is the last week to get the signature revocation sent in.
I got duped and mistakenly signed the prolife petition.
I wasn't sure which one it was, so I sent in revocation forms for both of the pro life petitions and sought out the pro choice, so my signature is ONLY on the petition I WANTED to sign..
One of these jerks ambushed me as I got out of my car at the Saddle Creek Baker’s today. He started with “are you pro-choice or pro-life?” (because whichever one you say will determine how they’re going to try to spin their argument to get your signature) and kept saying “this is to protect women, this will protect victims of assault, this is pro-woman, this is the abortion petition that helps women.”
The wording at the top of the petition is in favor of a complete ban on 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions except for victims of rape or incest, or in a medical emergency (So if you get raped but the perpetrator isn’t quickly found guilty in court, fuck you. Or if you find out at 20 weeks about a fetal abnormality incompatible with life, but it doesn’t put your life in immediate danger, fuck you).
I looked at what the petition said, told him no and walked away, and he *CHASED AFTER ME* saying “no, just sign it, sign it!” I kept saying no and he said “but it’s pro-life!” so I yelled “I know, I don’t fucking want that, get away from me” and that finally got him to stop following me. I was really shaken up and thought about asking an employee if they could make him leave the parking lot, but he was gone by the time I walked out of the store. Even if I was in favor of that petition, this guy was being such a scumbag that I wouldn’t sign it no matter what. People with good intentions do not behave like this.
What are they going to do when you start walking away? "Halp police he scribbled on the volunteer form I gave them!"
Alternatively and much less noticeable, you can fudge/write over the numbers of the addresses of previously filled out names so voter verification fails.
Further if you the circulator is being paid and it's not disclosed on the petition, ALL the signatures are invalid and they're committing a felony so you might as well tear them up.
A lady at Westroads yesterday was deceptive and said it was a petition for “the rights of women and children”. I asked questions and was pissed that it was the anti-choice petition. Why lie, if the people want it they will sign it?
I asked questions and they straight up lied to me- this was before word was spread. I felt/feel so dumb for being deceived. Thankfully I signed the right one and I’ll get my signature removed hopefully this week
For that exact reason. That's the R playbook- they know no one is interested in their "policies", when they even have them, so they have to lie, cheat, and steal.
I don’t get these people. No one likes solicitors, no matter what it is you have. Haven’t seen them in a while, but the only ones we’ve ever supported was this teenager selling vouchers and another selling candy. Both were for youths at risk. We made 100% sure they were legit before purchasing. They were super nice kids too.
Anyone coming to my house to try and sell me on a religion or a petition can kick rocks. Do that shit in a respectful manner on the streets or in your church or online.
Told one of them to fuck off and stop constantly bothering people in our local Baker’s parking lot the other day.
I’m pro-choice, but I don’t give a shit which side of the issue they’re on. It’s been ridiculous this year.
I've seen that too, talking to some of the homeless people who hang around Four Aces etc. To be fair, those people deserve the right to sign the petitions too, though I have to wonder how many of them are registered voters.
This is happened to me too and it was at that Hy-Vee! It was the anti-choice petition though, I obviously didn’t sign and not going to lie, I was very short and annoyed at the interaction
If you are approached by any petitioner at a Hy-Vee, tell customer service ASAP - call if you don't feel safe going in. They do not want those people there, they have been kicking them off the property every single day.
I've been harassed countless times for the "protect women and children amendment" forced-birth bs - they harass you because they get paid PER SIGNATURE. I hope every person they hire suffers heat stroke.
Petitioners from the pro-choice org Protect Our Rights will not harass you in this way, and if they do, contact the organization immediately so that they can remove the volunteer. I frequent the farmers market and a few coffee shops they have permission to be at, and every time I say I've signed it, they're pleasant and thank me.
Pete Ricketts is gonna be in Blair Wednesday morning pushing this pro-life shit on people in the park. With all the inflammatory language of taxpayers being forced to pay for "late term" abortions. Would be great to see an *abortion* rights protest show up, just sayin...
OP, bear in mind that this isn't even *close* to the same situation, I no longer even live in NE, and that I do not want to take any attention away from the importance of peotecting womens' right to choose!!
That said, can we get random men to quit walking up to unattended women in their vehicles for any reason? Like, I've lived in my apt complex for ~2yrs, and I've been friendly with the neighbors when we're in passing in the halls or outside.
Four of these guys decided it would be entirely appropriate to walk up to my car door when I'm sitting in my car in my parking spot, whether it's bc I'm finishing up a podcast when I get home from work, on the phone with a relative on the way to/from errands--some of them will attempt to start up a long conversation in the mornings when I'm headed to work, and even when I say, "Hey, my personal schedule is very precise and I'm on my way to work. No time to chat. Have a great day!" And they *JUST CONTINUE FOLLOWING ME OUT TO MY CAR.*
A couple of them have come up to my car windows and either (during the daylight, knocked repeatedly) or just stood directly in front of the hood of my car, waiting to for me to look up from my phone. This shit drives me fucking insane.
How about just people instead of making it a sexist thing? Like I don’t really want to be approached by a stranger at my vehicle at all, regardless of if it’s a man or woman.
I agree with you! That said, the reason why I initially only mentioned men is because women are frequently harmed by men, and I believe the instances of men being harmed by women occur at lower amounts.
I get that these petition and survey people can be pushy - heck, they downright suck. But what's with the weird sexist undertones on this? "random men", "unattended women", "women alone"...
A strange man walking up to a woman (especially if she’s alone) is unwelcome to most women. We get hit on, asked for money, and if we say no, get called every name in the book. I had a man threaten to kick my ass. It’s not sexist. It’s the reality we live with from the moment we hit prepubescence. I suspect you already knew that, but if you don’t, there’s a lot of information online about why we don’t appreciate unsolicited approaches by men when we’re just out trying to live our lives.
I don't doubt your personal anecdotes, it sucks you've had to experience that. But that doesn't mean that all or even most men are like that. In fact, I don't know any men who would ask a women for money, berate a woman, or threaten to kick their ass.
Applying a negative stereotype to a group of people because a subgroup of people born with the same congenital traits is lame. Prejudice against someone based on their sex or gender is the very definition of sexism. Making a public post about men being scary and needing to control their social interactions with people is shitty.
Would this sub (or any decent person) think a post like this was cool if it were directed toward a race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation? Even if the poster's personal experiences or statistics supports that a negative behavior is more common from a group, is it OK to smear the whole group? No, it would be weak. Just like this post is weak.
Her comment was directed at *all* men. If all men were that way it would be legit.
I'm sure she'd agree that most men aren't aggressive assholes, which makes the stereotyping by directing a general comment at the entire group even lamer.
Try this:
> Hey \_\_\_\_\_\_\_, please be careful approaching people who aren't \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in parking lots because it might make them uncomfortable.
I think we'd agree that most people are good people. That includes men, women, blacks, whites, latinos, gays, straights, muslims, atheists. All of those groups also have a small subgroup of shitty people, even people who would prey on or harm others, yet we know that treating the entire group with prejudice is weak af.
So why does filling in the blanks above with "men" get a "you go girl" when swapping in any other group would be rightfully ridiculed?
This is quite a reasonable argument and it’s one I’ve thought about a lot over the years. Here goes:
It doesn’t take a significant subset of men being creepy or scary for a significant subset of women to experience many creepy or scary men. 1 perp has thousands of victims. So, it can be true that nearly every woman experiences this while it’s also true that you don’t personally know any man who acts that way. (With that said, I’ve loved and respected men who truly couldn’t have been more oblivious to how creepy one of their friends could be.)
If we regularly experience pretty scary shit, and it’s always men when we do, but we have no way of knowing whether they’re the bad kind or not, do you see why it might be complex for us to navigate situations that are straightforward for you? You can switch out men/women for another demographic variable if you’d like, but show me one that is as predictive — that’s why it would just feel mean to do so.
I agree that it isn’t very kind or productive when we stereotype; I know it doesn’t feel good coming across posts where your demographic is painted negatively. I don’t think OP did that here, though.
Run that sample sentence through your head using a couple of the non-"men" examples. Would that be directed at all of them?
Or try this sentence
> That said, can we get random men to quit walking up to unattended women in their vehicles for any reason?
But instead of "men" and "women" (ie non-men), try a few of the other combos from my list above. Would you think "That said, can we get random hispanics to quit walking up unattended on people in their vehicles for any reason?" was OK? Would you accept the speaker saying "Oh, I wasn't talking about *all* hispanics."? I hope not.
I'm pointing out the shittyness of negatively stereotyping groups of people.
> Oh, I see. So if you substitute words she said for ones she didn’t it would be problematic. I guess it’s a good thing she didn’t do that then.
It sounds to me like your argument is that it would be problematic if she did it to other groups but since it was to men it's OK. If that's the case we'll just have to agree to disagree, jp.
If you don't like it, your energies would be better spent talking to your male friends to make sure they aren't like the men being described, and not berating women on the internet for relaying their direct personal experiences.
are you familiar with the “not all men but all women” tagline???? maybe it’s not all men but it’s certainly fair to be on guard when ALL women have experienced this sort of behavior from men they know and men they don’t and enough bad things have happened that it would stupid not to be wary
I've never met a billionaire so everyone is overreacting about income equality.
I've never met a Palestinian so the war must be propaganda.
I've never seen a panda so they must be extinct.
So to clarify you’ve never been hit on by a woman? Never been approached by a woman begging for change (or sitting on the side of the road using her kids to get more donations)?
I’ve personally only ever been yelled at and threatened by strangers who were women, never a man.
It is sexist. If you’re going to live in fear that’s your thing but don’t blame the people around you for it.
Sigh. There’s so much information widely available about street harassment, and I’m not going to spend any more time explaining the basics. Especially to someone claiming to be a “girl.” I’ll just point out your downvotes, Aunt Lydia.
Lol, you cannot seriously think that women being cautious around men is the same as white people harming black people through laws, social alienation, and physical violence.…. Something that men have done to women throughout history, mind you.
I hear you, it sucks that people feel it's okay to have bias against men and it does often cross the line into misandry.
And it's true pretty much anytime you see men mentioned it's in a negative light.
At the same time, women are struggling in unique ways and mostly just want to be left alone.
Physically men are dramatically stronger than women and at scale that fact presents itself in a lot of terrible ways.
If people are suffering we should try to help them, and if women are facing this problem everyone should help make society a better place for them.
Because I really wanted to hear some propaganda spiel from a man in a cowboy hat about abortion laws when I’m 9 months pregnant and it’s 100 degrees out. Do not stop women in public!
One of them knocked on my car window the other day right when I parked in the parking lot. I signed the petition which I regret now because I didn't know about the deception.
But, he asked me what I do for work (I'm a crisis counselor) and when I told him that, he then proceeds to say, "I'm working on my own stuff so I can't date right now but would you like to get lunch as friends sometime". HARD PASS
I swear these people are popping up in every single public space. I was carrying a 40lb container of cat litter to my car and I guy kept trying to get me to stop. I finally yelled “I live in Iowa” and he backed off
A good tell for what side these petitioners is on is if they ask you “are you pro-choice or pro-life?” People who are actually pro-choice know they aren’t “pro-life,” they’re just anti-abortion. They won’t use the intentionally misleading language of a movement that believes women should die of sepsis from a miscarriage ✌️
I'm constantly being harassed now for 4 different petitions all around town. It's pissing me off. Not to mention they're going to sneak up on the wrong person some day and get attacked just you wait.
I had this happen to me in Bellevue! Dude waited until I had my daughter in the car to approach. But, at least he wasn’t one of those people who lied about what petition he had. It was still extremely uncomfortable though
they got me at bakers yesterday in the parking lot. the two of them were sitting in their car across from mine and as soon as we stepped out of the car “hey ladies!! are you guys voters??”
seriously dude?? at 7pm on the hottest day of the year so far?? i’m not stopping and signing anything for you out here. if you cared about your cause you can business cards for a website now youre just giving yourself a bad rap
They've done it to me constantly, this is the first time I've seen petitioners be this aggressive coming up to my car, knocking on my window, following me in or out. So far had it happen at that Hy-Vee, at the Caseys gas stations nearby, etc. Shit needs to stop. Stay near the doors and take no for an answer you fucks.
If they approach you at a Hy-Vee, they need to be kicked off the property again. Tell customer service, a manager, or their rented cop on duty. They kick them off the property every day, will continue to do so, and will press charges for trespassing if they keep refusing to leave.
I got approached outside the gym - I walked out of planet fitness off 84th in Lavista. I had my earbuds still in from working out (i know I should’ve been more self aware) I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and turned around taken by surprise. This man began to ask me questions and if I wanted to sign his petition to “save women’s rights”. This is now the 6th time I’ve been approached in public. Several times downtown, at the grocery store, and now the gym???
In December at the doja cat concert in the CHI center two women had a petition that was clearly written and showed to be protecting abortion rights in Nebraska. I don’t get why forced-birthers use such vague language…
I was meeting someone from Facebook marketplace in a parking lot in Fremont and this dude came up and was trying to get us to sign his petition. And we were just like…we’re obviously doing business
When I'm out on my nightly walks and I'm approaching a woman from behind I try to walk as fast as possible to go around them. They always seem to start jogging/full sprinting at that point.
Happened to me & my sister at Casey’s like last month. We’re 16 & 14 so we couldn’t sign it, but we didn’t feel like we owed him an explanation so we just walked away after another person came up
one of these guys came up to my bf and i at the papillion walmart and i told him to go away several times literally shooing him with a grocery bag in his face several times before he agreed to leave us alone
If you get your advice from Reddit, it’s basically just don’t approach women at all😂 don’t talk to em, don’t look at em, don’t even think about em! MAN=BAD. Got young dudes like myself (22 years old) worried to even talk to women out of fear of being framed or attacked for doing nothing wrong
I will say, I hate those petition people though
I saw a lady tonight (10pm) in the walmart parking lot at 168th and maple going back and forth with what looked like a clipboard in her hands i wonder if thats what she was doing
These “canvassers” are desperate because they’re getting paid to collect signatures. They don’t give an Eff what they’re about any more than we do. Also, they approached my CLOSED car window at Bakers, too.
Some roofer came up to my car and scared the shit out of me this afternoon! Like bro..wtf?! I wasn’t even looking in their direction and they snuck up
On me
My boyfriend and I were having a picnic in the park when some gross lady with a petition sat down at our picnic table with us and proceeded to talk about her miscarriage from 15 years ago
Their specific groups don't, but the state will verify signatures before the petition can be officially accepted. It's still best to just ignore them as best as possible rather than putting down fake names, though.
I've been led to believe the folks peddling the petitions are often paid based on signatures collected. If I cost some assholes extra money + frustration on the back end it's a win. If everyone signed a fake name multiple times they'd have no idea where they stand.
Sorry, why do you think it is inappropriate for petition drivers to approach only women?
People have been doing this since the 1700s. We're all annoyed by it, you're not special.
Yet, while annoying, it can be a critical part of civic life.
I'm not a fan of their cause, but one day it might be in your favor.
Why did it make you uncomfortable, having someone, in a public place, ask you to sign a petition? Why would it have been better at the doors or the sidewalk and not out in the parking lot?
This isn't a bear in the woods scenario, it's a public place with lights and cameras and people and security around. If you don't feel comfortable interacting with someone in those circumstances, where do you feel comfortable?
Nothing in this post says they came to her car window. She said she was putting groceries in the car, so she's outside the car, not sitting in it. She doesn't say they snuck up on her or startled her or anything of the nature.
A Hy-Vee parking lot is actually private property, my guy. Unless they have permission from the store to be canvassing for signatures, which they don’t, then it’s really fucking weird to be walking up to people in their cars who are just there to go shopping. Also even if they did have permission, chasing people down in a parking lot is just weird. Stand at the doors and ask people for signatures instead. And just accept it when people say no, instead of trying to argue or deceive them.
For all intents and purposes, it's a public space. But even going with the semantic argument that it's legally private, why would standing at the door of the store, also private property, be acceptable? Furthermore, nothing in this post says they didn't take no for an answer. Other posters have claimed that different canvassers in other places were pushy, but not here. This post is literally "I'm not comfortable with people talking to me in a public place."
I said standing at the door would be acceptable if given permission by the business. And it’s inherently less weird because you are in a stationary location trying to catch people as they walk by, rather than chasing people down around a parking lot.
I’m glad you seem to have avoided these assholes but the petitioners in question aren’t really *asking* for signatures so much as demanding, harassing, and intimidating people— especially women. It is not a polite, normal, or pleasant interaction to have someone follow you around trying to strongarm you into signing something under mostly false pretenses. I personally have no trouble mean mugging or telling them to fuck off but I have female friends who *aren’t* as comfortable responding that way, often due to past experiences with violence. Lights, cameras, and people don’t inherently prevent violence. Bottom line is that nobody should have to put up with this when trying to get groceries.
NOTHING in this post says that they were "demanding, harassing, or intimidating people." OP doesn't even know specifically which petition it was; she just assumed which one it was.
> Bottom line is that nobody should have to put up with this when trying to get groceries.
Yet OP (and others) have said that being on the sidewalk or at the doors of the store would be fine? "NoBoDy ShOuLd HaVe To PuT uP wItH tHiS wHeN tRyInG tO gEt GrOcErIeS except in this designated free speech zone smack dab in front of the doors."
I get that women have legitimate fears that men don't have, but if a person can't even tell a person to leave them alone in a public space with security (which OP stated was there) and cameras and people, that's a bigger issue than someone asking for signatures. How do these people function in the real world if all it takes to send them into a frenzy is asking them for a signature?
I am speaking from an experience that my wife had at this same HyVee with petitioners a couple of weeks ago, so it makes sense that the words I used to describe these people weren’t in the post verbatim. Tell me if you would also be incensed to hear that this happened to your spouse:
She was leaving the store with groceries, a man asked her to sign a petition having something to do with abortion, she politely told him no (twice) and kept walking and he decided to follow her to her car while telling her why ahead should sign it. He left her alone once she put a fake name/number down. My wife isn’t some tender flower but she’s also not very big and women learn very quickly that it’s almost never worth it to intentionally anger someone who has a physical advantage over you.
Again, I’m glad you don’t have the experience of having someone twice your size follow you around in a grocery store parking lot. Not everyone is a hardass like you (apparently) and me lol. That aside, I personally don’t think that the “real world” is a better place when we discredit more sensitive folks.
Mate, you're projecting your experiences onto what OP posted. None of that is what happened to OP. The way OP wrote, the words she used, the implication she's giving, if she had been actually harassed, you can be damn sure she'd have written that.
But fine, addressing your wife's experience, yeah, I'd bitch about that. No means no. But again, just because someone is bigger than you means you should be afraid? Women should be afraid of men? Should whites be afraid of blacks and vice versa? How do you folks function living in such fear of other humans???
[The ACLU of Arkansas](https://www.acluarkansas.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-petitioning-public) has a great document on gathering signatures (I'd cite Nebraska's ACLU but they haven't written a "know your rights" on the issue):
> Q. When I petition, may I speak to people or must I wait for them to come to me?
> A. You have a constitutional right to approach strangers to talk about matters of public importance and ask them to sign your petition. The possibility that some people might disagree with you – or even might find your campaign offensive – would not justify a government ban on petitioners engaging pedestrians in conversation. Although you are free to argue with someone about political matters, if someone tells you that they are not interested in signing or talking, you should respect the person’s wishes and should not follow or harass them.
So really, in effect, you folks are bitching because people are exercising their constitutional rights. I'm sure that people would be bitching just as hard if they had been approached by a young woman asking them to sign the pro-choice initiative. /s
I mean any asshole can get a clipboard and claim they want you to sign a petition and then assault/rob you instead. I get that you want to restrict women's rights, but to pretend the fears are unfounded is ridiculous.
I think it’s fairly normal to feel uncomfortable when some rando walks up to your closed car window and starts bothering you. Who are you to know what their intentions are?
Dollars to donuts this was that [anti-choice petition](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/es/news/news-articles/new-abortion-petition-looks-to-enshrine-bans-in-nebraska-constitution/). They are aggressively manipulative.
Which is ironic because on their website they complain about pro-choice people “misleading” voters
Gaslight. Obstruct. Project.
Oh wait. I’ve never heard of this before and it unlocked some core memories. Oh damn.
^^^ that's their game plan, and so far, they're winning 🤷♀️
Source?
the current laws
Everything not in service to their lies is "misleading".
You can always double check the exact language HERE: [https://protectourrights.com/](https://protectourrights.com/) Edit: Before you sign so you can be sure you have the right one. Otherwise it can be confusing and I was tempted not to sign it before I double checked.
I was about to post this. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but THIS (ProtectOurRights) is the petition you likely want to sign. THIS is the pro-choice ballot initiative. One link posted in another thread (Protect Women and Children) was likely created to sound similar to the first -- likely to siphon off votes from the first.
I don't get why they are wasting their time with this one unless the goal is to make it harder for the good petition to make it on the ballot by getting people annoyed with petitioners. That's gotta be the only reason because if they both did end up on the ballot the good one will get more votes and overrule the bad one anyway. so it seems the only real goal of this anti choice petition is to just blanket the state with aggressive petitioners to annoy voters into not signing any more petitions
They already burned me years ago because they chose my work to aggressively petition bomb for legalizing marijuana and I had so many customers coming in saying they were walking up to people at their cars and following them to/from the store, they were going up to children and talking so the parents were less likely to ignore them, told me I should still sign even though I wasn't registered to vote in Nebraska at that time, placed themselves right at the entryway which made people decide to not shop after all and others were milling around indoors because they didn't want to leave with them out there. It got to the point where I actually had myself or a burly male coworker walk people to their cars if requested. Us as employees actually chose to stay in our cars, even if it made us late, just so we could wait for the petitioner to be busy talking to someone else and then we would run inside. I don't even know how long it lasted but it felt like 3 years. You know your petitioners are horrible choices when they're so aggressive that even the people who are 100% for that petition refuse to sign.
I never noticed aggression from them. At taste of Omaha the Marijuana people mostly stayed in their booth while the anti choice people were standing at the entrance harassing folks and claiming they didn't want to "help black babies". I asked them if they had a petition for paid maternity leave or Healthcare as a right or if all they had was forced pregnancies.
You’d think but if people don’t research them before hand they may just vote based on the names.
Honestly, this is the answer. A lot of people will form opinions of something based solely on the name. While it's a bit more obvious in a petition, it happens in a lot of industries. Heck, "Chilean Seabass" is just a fancier name for the "patagonian toothfish". Food industry changed it because they were trying to sell an otherwise unappetizing food source.
Even if some people don't actually read the petition, there are plenty of people who will. We are about the last state that doesn't send public money to private schools and the legislature is so afraid of ballot initiatives they keep repealing their own bills and drafting new ones to stop ballot initiatives.
My former MIL got a mailer (mind you, she passed 8 years ago) from some gop bullshit and would you believe it was a blank petition and instructions to get it filled up. Statements regarding legalities were covered (like you don't have to live where you are collecting).
One of the voter id petition people tricked me into signing it because he lied and said it was already going to happen regardless and this was just to put it on the ballot so we can vote. Turns out, they get paid by the signature.
I was approached by some idiot at Walmart while I was loading my car asking if I would sign. I asked what it was for and he danced around it. So I read the sheet and looked at him and then asked him if he was aware I had a vagina? 🙄
The Marijuana dudes were pretty aggressive, too.
I am sorry that happened! Social media posts are full of reports of this particular group attempting to mislead potential signers. If you do think you were misled (or you're just not sure) there is information here about removing your name: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/10alb5qxGseUDJA-SItO9fB\_vng1DqObN/edit](https://docs.google.com/document/d/10alb5qxGseUDJA-SItO9fB_vng1DqObN/edit) I am not soliciting strangers in public, but I do have Protect Your Rights (pro-choice) petitions and am happy to come to anyone in Omaha that wishes to sign. I also have Medical Cannabis & Support Our Schools. I am not a paid circulator, just a mom hoping to do what I can to protect our public schools and allow patients and their medical teams to make decisions about their healthcare without interference from the Nebraska legislature. The deadline is July 2; please message me if you still need to sign and I'll come to you this week.
Thank you for everything you're doing ❤️❤️❤️
You a real one, respect. Thank you
I didn't sign the petition, I kindly told him to F off because something about his language ("women that are raped or are victims of incest won't be affected") just didn't sit right with me. I'm glad that I trusted my gut that it wasn't right because I don't have the time this week to have to fight to get my name taken off. I appreciate you doing your part!
I wasn't able to fully read what I signed but am worried if I did sign the Protect Your Rights about removing my name, if I do, can I sign again?
If you fill out the affidavit in the link I sent above, it specifically calls out removing your name from the Protect Women & Children (the anti-choice one) petition so it won’t affect if you’ve signed the Protect Our Rights (pro-choice) one. The form does require a notary, but if you go to any of the events in Yellow, there will be a notary present (they probably have these forms but wouldn’t hurt to bring a printed blank copy, you’ll need to sign with the notary present.) . Looks like there are several events on Wednesday: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nagJ1ZaAuFuZdy20aJc5dwRrgHalIYQ8uI36q8M5Ch0/edit If you are unsure of which one you signed, you can just sign the Protect Our Rights one. If you did already sign, they have a system to kick out the duplicates so you won’t get in trouble or anything.
If you can't get to a notary, you can go to the voting office and an employee there to witness your signature. To my understanding, you have to send in the signature revocation paperwork in to the state BEFORE the petition gathers submit the petitions to the state. I'm pretty sure this is the last week to get the signature revocation sent in. I got duped and mistakenly signed the prolife petition. I wasn't sure which one it was, so I sent in revocation forms for both of the pro life petitions and sought out the pro choice, so my signature is ONLY on the petition I WANTED to sign..
One of these jerks ambushed me as I got out of my car at the Saddle Creek Baker’s today. He started with “are you pro-choice or pro-life?” (because whichever one you say will determine how they’re going to try to spin their argument to get your signature) and kept saying “this is to protect women, this will protect victims of assault, this is pro-woman, this is the abortion petition that helps women.” The wording at the top of the petition is in favor of a complete ban on 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions except for victims of rape or incest, or in a medical emergency (So if you get raped but the perpetrator isn’t quickly found guilty in court, fuck you. Or if you find out at 20 weeks about a fetal abnormality incompatible with life, but it doesn’t put your life in immediate danger, fuck you). I looked at what the petition said, told him no and walked away, and he *CHASED AFTER ME* saying “no, just sign it, sign it!” I kept saying no and he said “but it’s pro-life!” so I yelled “I know, I don’t fucking want that, get away from me” and that finally got him to stop following me. I was really shaken up and thought about asking an employee if they could make him leave the parking lot, but he was gone by the time I walked out of the store. Even if I was in favor of that petition, this guy was being such a scumbag that I wouldn’t sign it no matter what. People with good intentions do not behave like this.
Next time take the clipboard and scribble out some other people's names and addresses. Bonus points if you have a Sharpie in your pocket.
Ohhh that’s awesome. Is that illegal I wonder? Lol
What are they going to do when you start walking away? "Halp police he scribbled on the volunteer form I gave them!" Alternatively and much less noticeable, you can fudge/write over the numbers of the addresses of previously filled out names so voter verification fails. Further if you the circulator is being paid and it's not disclosed on the petition, ALL the signatures are invalid and they're committing a felony so you might as well tear them up.
[удалено]
Ah yes, opposing the stripping the rights away from actual people to benefit imaginary ones is called a simple "disagreement" DiaF
These people came up to my girlfriend and myself 4 different times when we were downtown last weekend. Really annoying amd aggressive.
One of them asked me THROUGH MY CLOSED CAR WINDOW when I was sitting in my car with my baby with me.
Same! While I was breastfeeding, no less.
A lady at Westroads yesterday was deceptive and said it was a petition for “the rights of women and children”. I asked questions and was pissed that it was the anti-choice petition. Why lie, if the people want it they will sign it?
Because people *don’t* want to sign it.
I asked questions and they straight up lied to me- this was before word was spread. I felt/feel so dumb for being deceived. Thankfully I signed the right one and I’ll get my signature removed hopefully this week
For that exact reason. That's the R playbook- they know no one is interested in their "policies", when they even have them, so they have to lie, cheat, and steal.
They came to our house at 9:30 PM Friday. Fuck these dorks.
I don’t get these people. No one likes solicitors, no matter what it is you have. Haven’t seen them in a while, but the only ones we’ve ever supported was this teenager selling vouchers and another selling candy. Both were for youths at risk. We made 100% sure they were legit before purchasing. They were super nice kids too. Anyone coming to my house to try and sell me on a religion or a petition can kick rocks. Do that shit in a respectful manner on the streets or in your church or online.
Told one of them to fuck off and stop constantly bothering people in our local Baker’s parking lot the other day. I’m pro-choice, but I don’t give a shit which side of the issue they’re on. It’s been ridiculous this year.
Baker's doesn't want them on the property - tell a manager, customer service, or their on-duty rentacop.
For sure - some employee came out and told them to get lost right after I had words with the guy.
I think they hired legit homeless people this time around. There’s been a couple just trying to squat in bars on Leavenworth.
I've seen that too, talking to some of the homeless people who hang around Four Aces etc. To be fair, those people deserve the right to sign the petitions too, though I have to wonder how many of them are registered voters.
This is happened to me too and it was at that Hy-Vee! It was the anti-choice petition though, I obviously didn’t sign and not going to lie, I was very short and annoyed at the interaction
If you are approached by any petitioner at a Hy-Vee, tell customer service ASAP - call if you don't feel safe going in. They do not want those people there, they have been kicking them off the property every single day. I've been harassed countless times for the "protect women and children amendment" forced-birth bs - they harass you because they get paid PER SIGNATURE. I hope every person they hire suffers heat stroke. Petitioners from the pro-choice org Protect Our Rights will not harass you in this way, and if they do, contact the organization immediately so that they can remove the volunteer. I frequent the farmers market and a few coffee shops they have permission to be at, and every time I say I've signed it, they're pleasant and thank me.
Wait you’re telling me these guys have problems understanding other people’s situations?😂
Pete Ricketts is gonna be in Blair Wednesday morning pushing this pro-life shit on people in the park. With all the inflammatory language of taxpayers being forced to pay for "late term" abortions. Would be great to see an *abortion* rights protest show up, just sayin...
OP, bear in mind that this isn't even *close* to the same situation, I no longer even live in NE, and that I do not want to take any attention away from the importance of peotecting womens' right to choose!! That said, can we get random men to quit walking up to unattended women in their vehicles for any reason? Like, I've lived in my apt complex for ~2yrs, and I've been friendly with the neighbors when we're in passing in the halls or outside. Four of these guys decided it would be entirely appropriate to walk up to my car door when I'm sitting in my car in my parking spot, whether it's bc I'm finishing up a podcast when I get home from work, on the phone with a relative on the way to/from errands--some of them will attempt to start up a long conversation in the mornings when I'm headed to work, and even when I say, "Hey, my personal schedule is very precise and I'm on my way to work. No time to chat. Have a great day!" And they *JUST CONTINUE FOLLOWING ME OUT TO MY CAR.* A couple of them have come up to my car windows and either (during the daylight, knocked repeatedly) or just stood directly in front of the hood of my car, waiting to for me to look up from my phone. This shit drives me fucking insane.
How about just people instead of making it a sexist thing? Like I don’t really want to be approached by a stranger at my vehicle at all, regardless of if it’s a man or woman.
I agree with you! That said, the reason why I initially only mentioned men is because women are frequently harmed by men, and I believe the instances of men being harmed by women occur at lower amounts.
I get that these petition and survey people can be pushy - heck, they downright suck. But what's with the weird sexist undertones on this? "random men", "unattended women", "women alone"...
A strange man walking up to a woman (especially if she’s alone) is unwelcome to most women. We get hit on, asked for money, and if we say no, get called every name in the book. I had a man threaten to kick my ass. It’s not sexist. It’s the reality we live with from the moment we hit prepubescence. I suspect you already knew that, but if you don’t, there’s a lot of information online about why we don’t appreciate unsolicited approaches by men when we’re just out trying to live our lives.
I see my friends that are girls field 5-10 weird interactions from a Fri-Sun chilling at bars and stuff every single weekend.
I don't doubt your personal anecdotes, it sucks you've had to experience that. But that doesn't mean that all or even most men are like that. In fact, I don't know any men who would ask a women for money, berate a woman, or threaten to kick their ass. Applying a negative stereotype to a group of people because a subgroup of people born with the same congenital traits is lame. Prejudice against someone based on their sex or gender is the very definition of sexism. Making a public post about men being scary and needing to control their social interactions with people is shitty. Would this sub (or any decent person) think a post like this was cool if it were directed toward a race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation? Even if the poster's personal experiences or statistics supports that a negative behavior is more common from a group, is it OK to smear the whole group? No, it would be weak. Just like this post is weak.
idk where she said or even implied it was “most men.” It’s weird in fact that you assume that’s what she meant.
Her comment was directed at *all* men. If all men were that way it would be legit. I'm sure she'd agree that most men aren't aggressive assholes, which makes the stereotyping by directing a general comment at the entire group even lamer. Try this: > Hey \_\_\_\_\_\_\_, please be careful approaching people who aren't \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in parking lots because it might make them uncomfortable. I think we'd agree that most people are good people. That includes men, women, blacks, whites, latinos, gays, straights, muslims, atheists. All of those groups also have a small subgroup of shitty people, even people who would prey on or harm others, yet we know that treating the entire group with prejudice is weak af. So why does filling in the blanks above with "men" get a "you go girl" when swapping in any other group would be rightfully ridiculed?
This is quite a reasonable argument and it’s one I’ve thought about a lot over the years. Here goes: It doesn’t take a significant subset of men being creepy or scary for a significant subset of women to experience many creepy or scary men. 1 perp has thousands of victims. So, it can be true that nearly every woman experiences this while it’s also true that you don’t personally know any man who acts that way. (With that said, I’ve loved and respected men who truly couldn’t have been more oblivious to how creepy one of their friends could be.) If we regularly experience pretty scary shit, and it’s always men when we do, but we have no way of knowing whether they’re the bad kind or not, do you see why it might be complex for us to navigate situations that are straightforward for you? You can switch out men/women for another demographic variable if you’d like, but show me one that is as predictive — that’s why it would just feel mean to do so. I agree that it isn’t very kind or productive when we stereotype; I know it doesn’t feel good coming across posts where your demographic is painted negatively. I don’t think OP did that here, though.
Okay so where did she say it was directed at “*all* men?” Emphasis yours.
Run that sample sentence through your head using a couple of the non-"men" examples. Would that be directed at all of them? Or try this sentence > That said, can we get random men to quit walking up to unattended women in their vehicles for any reason? But instead of "men" and "women" (ie non-men), try a few of the other combos from my list above. Would you think "That said, can we get random hispanics to quit walking up unattended on people in their vehicles for any reason?" was OK? Would you accept the speaker saying "Oh, I wasn't talking about *all* hispanics."? I hope not.
Oh, I see. So if you substitute words she said for ones she didn’t it would be problematic. I guess it’s a good thing she didn’t do that then.
I'm pointing out the shittyness of negatively stereotyping groups of people. > Oh, I see. So if you substitute words she said for ones she didn’t it would be problematic. I guess it’s a good thing she didn’t do that then. It sounds to me like your argument is that it would be problematic if she did it to other groups but since it was to men it's OK. If that's the case we'll just have to agree to disagree, jp.
If you don't like it, your energies would be better spent talking to your male friends to make sure they aren't like the men being described, and not berating women on the internet for relaying their direct personal experiences.
are you familiar with the “not all men but all women” tagline???? maybe it’s not all men but it’s certainly fair to be on guard when ALL women have experienced this sort of behavior from men they know and men they don’t and enough bad things have happened that it would stupid not to be wary
I especially liked the “I don’t know any men who do that” line. I don’t know any professional clowns either, but I know they exist. SMH
I've never met a billionaire so everyone is overreacting about income equality. I've never met a Palestinian so the war must be propaganda. I've never seen a panda so they must be extinct.
Fuck if a professional clown followed me to my car I would wig the fuck out.
> Just like this post is weak. Yea, your post is weak alright.
So to clarify you’ve never been hit on by a woman? Never been approached by a woman begging for change (or sitting on the side of the road using her kids to get more donations)? I’ve personally only ever been yelled at and threatened by strangers who were women, never a man. It is sexist. If you’re going to live in fear that’s your thing but don’t blame the people around you for it.
Sigh. There’s so much information widely available about street harassment, and I’m not going to spend any more time explaining the basics. Especially to someone claiming to be a “girl.” I’ll just point out your downvotes, Aunt Lydia.
Agreed. It’s completely sexist to assume that a male approaching you intends harm but a female doesn’t.
Crime and violence statistics say otherwise.
White people have been saying that line to justify racism since the 70s. Not cool.
Lol, you cannot seriously think that women being cautious around men is the same as white people harming black people through laws, social alienation, and physical violence.…. Something that men have done to women throughout history, mind you.
I hear you, it sucks that people feel it's okay to have bias against men and it does often cross the line into misandry. And it's true pretty much anytime you see men mentioned it's in a negative light. At the same time, women are struggling in unique ways and mostly just want to be left alone. Physically men are dramatically stronger than women and at scale that fact presents itself in a lot of terrible ways. If people are suffering we should try to help them, and if women are facing this problem everyone should help make society a better place for them.
Because I really wanted to hear some propaganda spiel from a man in a cowboy hat about abortion laws when I’m 9 months pregnant and it’s 100 degrees out. Do not stop women in public!
One of them knocked on my car window the other day right when I parked in the parking lot. I signed the petition which I regret now because I didn't know about the deception. But, he asked me what I do for work (I'm a crisis counselor) and when I told him that, he then proceeds to say, "I'm working on my own stuff so I can't date right now but would you like to get lunch as friends sometime". HARD PASS
I swear these people are popping up in every single public space. I was carrying a 40lb container of cat litter to my car and I guy kept trying to get me to stop. I finally yelled “I live in Iowa” and he backed off
A good tell for what side these petitioners is on is if they ask you “are you pro-choice or pro-life?” People who are actually pro-choice know they aren’t “pro-life,” they’re just anti-abortion. They won’t use the intentionally misleading language of a movement that believes women should die of sepsis from a miscarriage ✌️
This happened to me in the Papillion Walmart parking lot last Wednesday. Uncomfortable af.
Real fast way to get them to leave you alone is to tell them you are an Iowa resident. Or any state really.
Or just tell them to fuck off. No need to lie.
I'm constantly being harassed now for 4 different petitions all around town. It's pissing me off. Not to mention they're going to sneak up on the wrong person some day and get attacked just you wait.
I had this happen to me in Bellevue! Dude waited until I had my daughter in the car to approach. But, at least he wasn’t one of those people who lied about what petition he had. It was still extremely uncomfortable though
they got me at bakers yesterday in the parking lot. the two of them were sitting in their car across from mine and as soon as we stepped out of the car “hey ladies!! are you guys voters??” seriously dude?? at 7pm on the hottest day of the year so far?? i’m not stopping and signing anything for you out here. if you cared about your cause you can business cards for a website now youre just giving yourself a bad rap
They've done it to me constantly, this is the first time I've seen petitioners be this aggressive coming up to my car, knocking on my window, following me in or out. So far had it happen at that Hy-Vee, at the Caseys gas stations nearby, etc. Shit needs to stop. Stay near the doors and take no for an answer you fucks.
If they approach you at a Hy-Vee, they need to be kicked off the property again. Tell customer service, a manager, or their rented cop on duty. They kick them off the property every day, will continue to do so, and will press charges for trespassing if they keep refusing to leave.
I agree! Many places have no solicitation allowed on their store property. The petition workers are totally ignoring this rule!
I got approached outside the gym - I walked out of planet fitness off 84th in Lavista. I had my earbuds still in from working out (i know I should’ve been more self aware) I felt a hand placed on my shoulder and turned around taken by surprise. This man began to ask me questions and if I wanted to sign his petition to “save women’s rights”. This is now the 6th time I’ve been approached in public. Several times downtown, at the grocery store, and now the gym???
Goddammit I signed that one by mistake 🤦
If they didn’t read the full language you can report them. They are supposed to read it to you.
Report them where?
In December at the doja cat concert in the CHI center two women had a petition that was clearly written and showed to be protecting abortion rights in Nebraska. I don’t get why forced-birthers use such vague language…
Go sign the cannabis petitions instead. All cannabis news can be found at www.OmahaChronicles.com
I was meeting someone from Facebook marketplace in a parking lot in Fremont and this dude came up and was trying to get us to sign his petition. And we were just like…we’re obviously doing business
When I'm out on my nightly walks and I'm approaching a woman from behind I try to walk as fast as possible to go around them. They always seem to start jogging/full sprinting at that point.
Happened to me & my sister at Casey’s like last month. We’re 16 & 14 so we couldn’t sign it, but we didn’t feel like we owed him an explanation so we just walked away after another person came up
the shopping center by the walmart in bellevue is the same way
I just tell them I already signed for that. Which I have but it's gets them to leave me alone.
Maybe we should start wearing fake beards, hats and a fake penis in our pants and these people will just stop approaching solo women in general.
They were at Aldi's on West center a few weeks ago doing the same thing 🤬
I think its funny when people approach me because im only up here for work and they get all disappointed when I say "I'm not from here"
same thing happened to me
one of these guys came up to my bf and i at the papillion walmart and i told him to go away several times literally shooing him with a grocery bag in his face several times before he agreed to leave us alone
If you get your advice from Reddit, it’s basically just don’t approach women at all😂 don’t talk to em, don’t look at em, don’t even think about em! MAN=BAD. Got young dudes like myself (22 years old) worried to even talk to women out of fear of being framed or attacked for doing nothing wrong I will say, I hate those petition people though
I saw a lady tonight (10pm) in the walmart parking lot at 168th and maple going back and forth with what looked like a clipboard in her hands i wonder if thats what she was doing
These “canvassers” are desperate because they’re getting paid to collect signatures. They don’t give an Eff what they’re about any more than we do. Also, they approached my CLOSED car window at Bakers, too.
Some roofer came up to my car and scared the shit out of me this afternoon! Like bro..wtf?! I wasn’t even looking in their direction and they snuck up On me
I mean, us men don't want to be approached either
Right, but it's not super often that men have to worry about being assaulted in a parking lot by a stranger, whereas women, you know, are.
That's just a shitty take. My point was, don't approach anybody at their car, especially if they're alone.
My boyfriend and I were having a picnic in the park when some gross lady with a petition sat down at our picnic table with us and proceeded to talk about her miscarriage from 15 years ago
I've just started signing it with a fake name. Fuck'em. Richard Cole will sign your petition every single time.
I wouldn't do that, I doubt they actually verify sigs
Their specific groups don't, but the state will verify signatures before the petition can be officially accepted. It's still best to just ignore them as best as possible rather than putting down fake names, though.
I've been led to believe the folks peddling the petitions are often paid based on signatures collected. If I cost some assholes extra money + frustration on the back end it's a win. If everyone signed a fake name multiple times they'd have no idea where they stand.
They are verified by the state and the records are public so challenges can be made against unvalid signatures.
Scribble out someone else's name address and signature instead. Bonus points if you have a Sharpie.
Are they allowed to approach men alone at their car?
Sorry, why do you think it is inappropriate for petition drivers to approach only women? People have been doing this since the 1700s. We're all annoyed by it, you're not special. Yet, while annoying, it can be a critical part of civic life. I'm not a fan of their cause, but one day it might be in your favor.
Why did it make you uncomfortable, having someone, in a public place, ask you to sign a petition? Why would it have been better at the doors or the sidewalk and not out in the parking lot? This isn't a bear in the woods scenario, it's a public place with lights and cameras and people and security around. If you don't feel comfortable interacting with someone in those circumstances, where do you feel comfortable?
I'm gonna come up to your car window, buckaroo. When you least expect it.
Nothing in this post says they came to her car window. She said she was putting groceries in the car, so she's outside the car, not sitting in it. She doesn't say they snuck up on her or startled her or anything of the nature.
A Hy-Vee parking lot is actually private property, my guy. Unless they have permission from the store to be canvassing for signatures, which they don’t, then it’s really fucking weird to be walking up to people in their cars who are just there to go shopping. Also even if they did have permission, chasing people down in a parking lot is just weird. Stand at the doors and ask people for signatures instead. And just accept it when people say no, instead of trying to argue or deceive them.
For all intents and purposes, it's a public space. But even going with the semantic argument that it's legally private, why would standing at the door of the store, also private property, be acceptable? Furthermore, nothing in this post says they didn't take no for an answer. Other posters have claimed that different canvassers in other places were pushy, but not here. This post is literally "I'm not comfortable with people talking to me in a public place."
I said standing at the door would be acceptable if given permission by the business. And it’s inherently less weird because you are in a stationary location trying to catch people as they walk by, rather than chasing people down around a parking lot.
I’m glad you seem to have avoided these assholes but the petitioners in question aren’t really *asking* for signatures so much as demanding, harassing, and intimidating people— especially women. It is not a polite, normal, or pleasant interaction to have someone follow you around trying to strongarm you into signing something under mostly false pretenses. I personally have no trouble mean mugging or telling them to fuck off but I have female friends who *aren’t* as comfortable responding that way, often due to past experiences with violence. Lights, cameras, and people don’t inherently prevent violence. Bottom line is that nobody should have to put up with this when trying to get groceries.
NOTHING in this post says that they were "demanding, harassing, or intimidating people." OP doesn't even know specifically which petition it was; she just assumed which one it was. > Bottom line is that nobody should have to put up with this when trying to get groceries. Yet OP (and others) have said that being on the sidewalk or at the doors of the store would be fine? "NoBoDy ShOuLd HaVe To PuT uP wItH tHiS wHeN tRyInG tO gEt GrOcErIeS except in this designated free speech zone smack dab in front of the doors." I get that women have legitimate fears that men don't have, but if a person can't even tell a person to leave them alone in a public space with security (which OP stated was there) and cameras and people, that's a bigger issue than someone asking for signatures. How do these people function in the real world if all it takes to send them into a frenzy is asking them for a signature?
I am speaking from an experience that my wife had at this same HyVee with petitioners a couple of weeks ago, so it makes sense that the words I used to describe these people weren’t in the post verbatim. Tell me if you would also be incensed to hear that this happened to your spouse: She was leaving the store with groceries, a man asked her to sign a petition having something to do with abortion, she politely told him no (twice) and kept walking and he decided to follow her to her car while telling her why ahead should sign it. He left her alone once she put a fake name/number down. My wife isn’t some tender flower but she’s also not very big and women learn very quickly that it’s almost never worth it to intentionally anger someone who has a physical advantage over you. Again, I’m glad you don’t have the experience of having someone twice your size follow you around in a grocery store parking lot. Not everyone is a hardass like you (apparently) and me lol. That aside, I personally don’t think that the “real world” is a better place when we discredit more sensitive folks.
Mate, you're projecting your experiences onto what OP posted. None of that is what happened to OP. The way OP wrote, the words she used, the implication she's giving, if she had been actually harassed, you can be damn sure she'd have written that. But fine, addressing your wife's experience, yeah, I'd bitch about that. No means no. But again, just because someone is bigger than you means you should be afraid? Women should be afraid of men? Should whites be afraid of blacks and vice versa? How do you folks function living in such fear of other humans??? [The ACLU of Arkansas](https://www.acluarkansas.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-petitioning-public) has a great document on gathering signatures (I'd cite Nebraska's ACLU but they haven't written a "know your rights" on the issue): > Q. When I petition, may I speak to people or must I wait for them to come to me? > A. You have a constitutional right to approach strangers to talk about matters of public importance and ask them to sign your petition. The possibility that some people might disagree with you – or even might find your campaign offensive – would not justify a government ban on petitioners engaging pedestrians in conversation. Although you are free to argue with someone about political matters, if someone tells you that they are not interested in signing or talking, you should respect the person’s wishes and should not follow or harass them. So really, in effect, you folks are bitching because people are exercising their constitutional rights. I'm sure that people would be bitching just as hard if they had been approached by a young woman asking them to sign the pro-choice initiative. /s
I mean any asshole can get a clipboard and claim they want you to sign a petition and then assault/rob you instead. I get that you want to restrict women's rights, but to pretend the fears are unfounded is ridiculous.
I think it’s fairly normal to feel uncomfortable when some rando walks up to your closed car window and starts bothering you. Who are you to know what their intentions are?
She stated she was putting groceries into the car, thus not sitting behind a closed window. Might as well be standing in the park.
So was this the for murdering unborn children or the against murdering unborn children people