I biked to and from work today with heavy precipitation on the way in and 25 mph winds during both trips. My newer co-workers couldn’t believe it. I’ve ridden in much worse weather. If you get used to doing difficult, uncomfortable things, you’ll know you’ve got it in you when the time comes. On the way home, Lewis Clayborn, the crossing guard at Tower Grove and Vista, yelled “How’d you do?” in reference to yesterday’s primary. In the moment it took to get through the intersection (and with a car and lot of wind noise between us), I wasn’t able to explain that there wasn’t a primary election for the Board of Education and that I’ll just be on the general election ballot on April 8, so I yelled back, “Good, good!”
I explained my absence from the primary ballot several times yesterday while handing out business cards for eight hours at Buder Library. Interacting with voters at the polls forces you to condense your initial pitch and quickly read people and iterate to figure out what works to get literature in hands. I was the only school board candidate there. I also had volunteers (thank you, Amanda Doyle, Anita Doyle, Byron Kerman, Kate Malorin, Christine Ingrassia, and Vanessa Carroll!) at six other locations.
I’ve been going at it hard since I filed on December 10. In campaigning as in life, I believe in starting early and consistently putting in the work. It’s just how I’m wired. I’m hoping the effort is reflected in the election results, but even if it isn’t, I’ll know I made a solid attempt.
Before today, the last time I saw Lewis was February 25. Before that, it’d been a long time because I rarely go into the office anymore. I hopped out of the passenger seat to talk to him, and he immediately recognized me even without my distinctive pink bike. I told him I was running for school board. He enthusiastically offered to be my campaign manager and planted one of my yard signs at the corner.
When Lewis is with you, you can’t lose. The great thing is that Lewis is with a lot of people. He’s a genius with a mental catalog of thousands (tens of thousands?) of faces. When I was commuting to work five days a week, he was often the best part of my day. St. Louis has a lot of problems, but I love this city because of people like Lewis.