In a community where virtually every commodity not only is available but plentiful, how do you convince residents to store the most accessible of all?
This is one definition of the difference between a champion salesperson and everyone else on earth.
This is the kind of talent that flows naturally in Christine Parra, emergency preparedness coordinator for the Fire Dept.
She is the face of the community’s ambitious Water First program, which helps explain the promotion’s burgeoning success.
Spawned by the well-known advocate for the homeless, Dr. Ira Diamond, Water First is about convincing residents to store the supposedly bottomless supply of water at home in 55-gallon barrels in anticipation of a catastrophe when the supply will have vanished.
As the primary City Hall person responsible for selling Culver City residents on this amorphous plan to store water for – you will excuse the expression – a rainy day, Ms. Parra must operate at the peak of her considerable persuasion skills.
“In order to engage residents,” she said, “I try to make them understand why conserving water is important.
“I usually ask people, ‘So what are the most important things in your life? What are some things you save up for? That you plan for? That are the most meaningful in your life?’”
Ms. Parra said the answers hardly ever vary.
“Family, family, family,” they tell her. “First home. College.”
Then it is Ms. Parra’s turn. “What do you do to get your first home?” she asks. “You save your money. You save for years. What do you do for college? You save your money. You save for years.
“And what do you do to protect your family in case of disaster?”
“Nothing,” the community member commonly says.
“But,” responds Ms. Parra, “you just told me your family is the most important part of your life. So what have you done to protect your family if it is the most important thing in your life?”
That, said Ms. Parra, “is how I usually start. It’s not all death and doom. It is a hard topic, a serious topic.
“The reality is that we have chosen to live in Southern California,” says native born Ms. Parra. “This is our potential reality. We have every opportunity now to be prepared and have a plan.
By doing so, said Ms. Parra, “we will be able to be more rational when It happens. We will be a little less stressed out and even more prepared to help our family.
“The feeling of helplessness is terrible.”
Ms. Parra may be contacted at christine.parra@culvercity.org
(To be continued)
