Take a look at the people with the handouts

The people with the handouts look interesting to you. They seem to advertise for something they consider important. Maybe it is worth having a closer look into it. You go straight to them and it only takes seconds for the boy to take his full attention to you. You are not sure, if it is because you are a girl or you are somebody close his age.

“Greetings,” the guy says smiling, “do you care for the future of the city? I would like to inspire you for the candidate of change. Patricia Nidal will end the corruption and **** of power by the elites.”

So, you were right. They are supporters of a politician. They try to get votes and what you first considered to be signatures are indeed E-Mail adresses for a newsletter. Still, you had no idea that there is an election coming up. Could be worth to have a look at.

“Sounds interesting,” you say polite, “and how will she do it?”

“Well, at first, she needs to win the election,” the guy says proud, “if we help her with this, she will replace the corrupt chief of police with someone trustworthy and make sure the police has enough money to fight corruption. Afterwards we take care of the slums. Millions of Dollars are lost every year because Mayor Hull always supports people who are already rich. With the money invested in social projects and new workplaces, we can make a huge difference there. And when …”

“One moment, please,” you stop the guy, “that was a little too fast. What election are you talking about?”

“You … you don’t know?” the guy asks confused, “the upcoming mayor elections. In three months is election day. That’s what all the posters are about.”

“I haven’t seen any,” you admit and shrug your shoulders, “I just moved into this town a day ago, to be honest.”

“Oh, welcome in to Sunset hills than,” the woman suddenly says and comes over to you, “are you even registered then?”

“Miss Rao, please be gentle,” the boy says calm but a little embarrassed, “but I guess we should give you the basics first. In about three months, the city elects a new mayor. Patricia Nidal competes against the current mayor Quincy Hull. According to several independent media, he leads with 49 percent. Miss Nidal gets at the moment 45 percent. The other 6 percent are currently undecided. There are no other candidates, so it will be an interesting race.”

“What Tyler hasn't said yet, due to misplaced politeness, is that there isn't really an independent media outlet in town,” Miss Rao interrupts, “Hull is a corrupt pervert and his equally corrupt supporters own the largest news outlets in the state. And his thugs intimidate bloggers and independent journalists. Truthful reporting has become rare.”

“Ok, sure,” you mumble a little reserved.

It is obvious that Miss Rao is significantly more radical than the young Tyler at her side. Of course, you are aware that in principle every election media manipulation and completely unfounded accusations are used by both sides. The truth is usually somewhere in between.

“You look a little confused,” Tyler mumbles empathic and calm, “I tell my comrade here sometimes that she overdoes it, when talking about Mayor Hull. Let’s just say that he is a conservative politician with many rich and powerful supporters who all benefit from money that should be for the poor people of the town. Miss Nidal is a liberal politician and wants to end these unjust actions.”

“Fine,” Miss Rao gives in, “spoken like a sissy but at least it’s true. However, we can always need another helping hand. If you want to do something good for the city, grab some handouts and give them to the people.”

“Only if you have time and are interested, of course,” Tyler adds quickly and gives Miss Rao a very strict and kind of angry look, “my comrade >accidentally< forgets to add this from time to time. Volunteer helpers are always welcome, but nobody should feel under pressure or **** to anything.”