Recently my 67-year-old handicapped brother-in-law was approached at a local senior center by someone wanting him to sign a petition. The petitioner told him it was related to banning marijuana. He felt intense pressure to sign and had to more than once refuse the petitioner’s request. He said “My dad taught me not to sign anything I can’t read.”
After hearing about this I called the senior center inquiring about their policy regarding petition signing, and was told that they do not permit it on their property. If they saw this gentleman again they would ask him to stop.
My concern is that this petitioner snuck into the senior center and approached a very obviously handicapped person in hopes of gaining signatures at any cost. This tactic is deceitful and underhanded. Is there no place our seniors can go that is safe from solicitors? How many other seniors in our community have been manipulated in this manner? Where will they look next?
I very much care about my community and appreciate the senior center facility that is available to my brother-in-law, but this incident is very concerning. I hope in the future any petitioner for any cause would not prey upon those who cannot speak for themselves.