I worked for half a summer as a canvasser for MontPIRG and it was the worst experience of my life. They weren't entirely upfront about the job nor were they honest about the pay. We were canvassing clean air legislation. I was dropped one time in the heart of a neighborhood where all the higher ups in the refinery lived. The cops were called on me within five houses and I was escorted out of the neighborhood and left to sit until it was time to regroup (this was before cell phones and I was in a town I was utterly unfamiliar with and had a bad reputation for Montana). When I was picked up, I was chastised for not making a bigger deal out of it, for not causing a ruckus and getting a tv crew out. That was when I decided my social conscious could be satisified volunteering in my community.