Monday, November 12, 2007

As it turns out, our neighbor is a household name in Washington State. We don't think about her celebrity status much, she's just the neighbor and a good one at that. She wasn't in today but still I wasn't prepared for the protesters that came by, appearing in my doorway from nowhere. They scared me to death. In a flak jacket with a wool hat pulled down low, the lead man asked to borrow some scotch tape. He took my breath away because he had a camera with a telephoto lens around his neck and at a glance, it looked like a gas mask. And there was no approach-- I did not hear him until he spoke and was standing no more than five feet away. He had come with his friends bearing a ghoulish casket for our neighbor. After a moment, I realized he was harmless so I gave him some tape and walked with him to witness the protest.

So much about this encounter surprised me. The lead man was friendly, gregarious, happy; for him, this was a party. His colleagues were rowdy, immature in a Beavis and Butthead manner. I don't know if subconsciously I was expecting Nelson Mandela or Alexander Solzhenitsyn and therefore was startled by the marked and stark contrast or if I thought that protests are solemn, dutiful affairs. They are not. These folks were on a lark and having the time of their life. Their demeanor belied their message and in the end, I shook my head at what a sophomoric, silly note this protest struck. They left a petition with a few paltry names, further denigrating their position; if they were passionate about their dismay, with a little elbow grease they could have included petitions with 1000 times more signatures. Slackers all. These people couldn't run for Tom Hayden's coffee. And it's likely the winter of their discontent will be a long one as a result.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

5 comments:

Idaho Dad said...

Did you give them candy and say "Nice costumes, but Halloween was two weeks ago!"

Carla said...

Nothing like a little excitement to start the day...oh, I suppose they weren't even organized to get there first thing in the morning.

MarmiteToasty said...

I went on a protest rally in London YEARS ago when I worked for The Ministry of Defence.... I was about 19/20ish...... to be honest it was just an excuse for a paid day off..... and a day out in London lol....... but when I got there and figured it all out.... I joined in fully with all I could muster...... it lead me to become a representative in our CPSA Union at work, fighting always for the underdog and for injustice of some of our workers in the Public Sector of the Ministry........those were some good years...

Mmmmmmmmm wondering if all those years in the union is why I hate politics now LOL.....

But even in everyday life, I always back the underdog.....should I wear me pants on the outside of me trousers again? LOL

x

... said...

Power to the coffee..

The Fool said...

There's a snippet in the documentary "The Corporation" where a handful of protesters show up at a CEO's house to protest...and end up chatting and having tea served to them by the dude.

Oh, the world loves a good protest...