Let the kids do it

It would be some time before I learned that it was common in political campaigns to recruit groups of young people to carry out tasks that needed to be done but that older people didn’t want to do. The social element was the hook to attract them.

 And it worked.

In 1969, I was one of five high school kids sent on a mission to deliver campaign brochures for Elmer Gertz, an Independent candidate for Delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention (Con-con), to an area lacking volunteer canvassers.

There were five of us - three boys and two girls. TWO GIRLS!

We were dropped off in a neighborhood far from our homes and spent a whole afternoon climbing apartment stairwells, ringing doorbells, and knocking on doors to give voters information about our candidate.

When we finished, we gathered at a hot dog joint - three boys and TWO GIRLS! - where we called headquarters to let them know we were finished and were ready to be picked up.

While waiting for our ride, we just hung out and talked about our experiences.

Later that year, after high school graduation ceremonies, one of those girls walked up to me, grabbed me by the head, and kissed me right on the lips. That was a very significant event at that time in my life and I was grateful to my parents, who were standing right there, for not asking me anything about her.