It’s Getting Hot In Here

by Joe Richie, in the field in Des Moines, IA:

Organizing is more about being opportunistic than serendipitous, but sometimes even the best organizers can’t imagine how the fates will align.

ReEnergize Iowa* team member Whit Jones was in downtown Des Moines yesterday afternoon with his girlfriend Claire, who luckily for us, describes herself as a “huge Ben Folds fan.” Claire sighted Mr. Folds walking down the street, and after some driving maneuvers that Whit described as “not life endangering, but certainly worthy of a ticket,” Whit and Claire stopped at a red light and waved the former Ben Folds Five frontman over to the car. They shook hands, and, like any good organizer would do, left him with a ReEnergize Iowa flyer in his hand.

That evening, Janie Hauser, Chelsea Feeny, and myself set up a table at the Wells Fargo Arena to collect signatures and pass out fliers at the John Mayer/Ben Folds concert. After the opening number of Ben Folds’ set, he stood up and started emptying his pockets, saying that someone had given him a flyer that he wanted to sing about. After giving up hope of finding it, he settled back into his normal set.

Meanwhile, John Mayer strutted across the floor of the stage mid-song while playing the tambourine and delivered our leaflet to Ben. When the song ended, he told the crowd he’d met a lot of great people in Des Moines, and he was inspired by us to write a song. The band started rocking, and he started singing lyrics directly off the flyer (I believe this makes me his new lyricist). The song lasted for an electrifying two and half minutes of perfectly coupled climate lyrics and synthesized solos (check out what the Des Moines Register had to say about it).

I sat agape as I absorbed what had just happened. Ben Folds, who I had been perfecting my air piano to since age 13, had just performed a song about the project I had spent so many months planning and making a reality. There were now thousands of adolescent girls and popped collar boys clamoring to get their hands on our flyers. Ben Folds had just delivered us to organizing nirvana.

I busted into the dressing rooms backstage using the age-old tactic of looking confident and thanked Ben for singing the song. We talked a little about global warming, he told me about how his parents had had solar panels up on their house for years, and he wished us luck. The sound guy promised us a tape of the song. I headed home happy.

We don’t do this work for the screaming crowds, the backstage passes, the shoulder rubbing with celebrities, or to become immortalized in song; we do this work because we can’t imagine doing anything else. But if that means occasionally putting up with all those other things, I guess I can accept that.

*ReEnergize Iowa is an initiative of the Sierra Club, Sierra Student Coalition and United Steelworkers to unite the residents of Iowa demanding our leaders take action to build a clean energy economy for real global warming solutions. The project will culminate in a 4-day march from Ames to Des Moines August 2-5. For more info, check out: www.climatesummer.org