"You need toothpaste?" Listening to Piper Kerman tell her story at the Maryville Talks Books last night, I couldn't help but wonder what my reaction would be to this question if, on the first day of a prison sentence, someone approached and asked it of me. I would probably wonder if I had heard them right. Wonder if it was a loaded or leading question meant to distract the naive newbie before emotional or bodily harm was inflicted, rather than the first of many gentle offers of friendship and concern that, according to Piper, perpetuate the prisoner community. After a minute, I stopped wondering, and I just listened. To one woman's successful attempt to make the sweetest of all lemonades from a truckload of lemons and how she has been campaigning ever since that truckload arrived to help other women in the prison system do the same.
I wasn't actually going to go to the lecture and book signing. I have a platform, too, just like Ms. Kerman. She didn't just talk about the book and the show. Instead, she passionately lectured about the role that race, gender, socioeconomic status play in sentencing, likelihood of ending up in prison, the length of the sentence, and whether a person would serve multiple prison terms, specifically as it applied to women. I frequently speak about people's access to affordable, high-quality food regardless of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. But, in watching the Netflix show, Orange is the New Black, which is loosely based on Ms. Kerman's book by the same name, I witness many instances of anti-GMO slander, and in one utterly blatant exchange between two characters - mind you, two women who are in prison for committing crimes - in which one says to the other, "I wouldn't want to work for one of those evil companies like Monsanto...." at which point I turned off the TV.
At some point, months later, I turned the TV back on and finished watching the season. And it took an invitation from a friend, and my own predilection for researching things before I decided that it would be well worth my time to attend. And it was. But, I couldn't leave the long book-signing line without saying just a few things - an elevator speech, if you will.
When it was my turn (and my friend's) turn to approach Piper at the table and get our picture taken with her. I started by saying "That was a wonderful lecture. I am glad I came, but... I almost didn't."
"Oh?"
"Well, I looked you up on the internet and read about your platform."
"I guess you can believe some of the things you read on the internet."
"Yes, but, before I did that, all I knew about you and your book was the show, and you see, I work really hard as a scientist for Monsanto Company, to ensure that those same people you fight for also have access to affordable, high-quality food."
"Yes, the show isn't very nice about your company."
"Maybe you could ask the producer to take it easy on us."
"Hmmm....."
And that was it. Actually, then she took a picture with us (all smiling!) in which I look like the Jolly Green Giant next to a seated Ms. Kerman and my standing friend, who is all of 5'4" (just imagine it). And I have a new book to read. I'm pretty sure I know how this one ends.
I wasn't actually going to go to the lecture and book signing. I have a platform, too, just like Ms. Kerman. She didn't just talk about the book and the show. Instead, she passionately lectured about the role that race, gender, socioeconomic status play in sentencing, likelihood of ending up in prison, the length of the sentence, and whether a person would serve multiple prison terms, specifically as it applied to women. I frequently speak about people's access to affordable, high-quality food regardless of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. But, in watching the Netflix show, Orange is the New Black, which is loosely based on Ms. Kerman's book by the same name, I witness many instances of anti-GMO slander, and in one utterly blatant exchange between two characters - mind you, two women who are in prison for committing crimes - in which one says to the other, "I wouldn't want to work for one of those evil companies like Monsanto...." at which point I turned off the TV.
At some point, months later, I turned the TV back on and finished watching the season. And it took an invitation from a friend, and my own predilection for researching things before I decided that it would be well worth my time to attend. And it was. But, I couldn't leave the long book-signing line without saying just a few things - an elevator speech, if you will.
When it was my turn (and my friend's) turn to approach Piper at the table and get our picture taken with her. I started by saying "That was a wonderful lecture. I am glad I came, but... I almost didn't."
"Oh?"
"Well, I looked you up on the internet and read about your platform."
"I guess you can believe some of the things you read on the internet."
"Yes, but, before I did that, all I knew about you and your book was the show, and you see, I work really hard as a scientist for Monsanto Company, to ensure that those same people you fight for also have access to affordable, high-quality food."
"Yes, the show isn't very nice about your company."
"Maybe you could ask the producer to take it easy on us."
"Hmmm....."
And that was it. Actually, then she took a picture with us (all smiling!) in which I look like the Jolly Green Giant next to a seated Ms. Kerman and my standing friend, who is all of 5'4" (just imagine it). And I have a new book to read. I'm pretty sure I know how this one ends.
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