We Can’t Wait…Max Can’t Wait…Part Deux

The last time I blogged, I was thinking about attending an anti-war protest with the family. Dave, Max and I did end up going to the protest, and it was definitely an experience for them.

We arrived at the site, the military recruitment center on Davis Street in San Francisco, at 3:20 pm, and didn’t see anyone there. I was a bit worried because all of the other protests I’ve ever attended have had the organizers there at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. We even called Ben to ask him to check online in the event it had been canceled.

Ten minutes later, we saw a few folks start to straggle in, and by 3:40, there were about 25 people there. Most of the people were active in the World Can’t Wait organization, but we saw that there were a few others who had heard about it as we had…from either the radio or BART fliers.

There were several posters up at the site, but the one that was most shocking to me was a photo collection of a water boarding exercise done at a protest at UC Berkeley a few days earlier. One of the organizers explained what water boarding was, and both Dave and I were shocked to learn what exactly it entailed. Basically, the person being water boarded is placed upside down at a 45 degree angle on a board and their head is covered with a black hood. Water is then cascaded down the board, eventually creating the sensation of drowning for the person. The organizer described it as dry drowning, and it sounded absolutely horrifying.

Back to the protest…I was holding Max so couldn’t really help with setup, but Dave helped the organizers post some of their materials. There was one ugly moment at the beginning when one of the protest leaders made a comment about the military being criminals. Another one of the attendees, an older guy who probably was a Vietnam Vet (based on his clothing and other paraphernalia) didn’t appreciate this comment, and they got into an ugly shouting match. I was more in agreement with the vet (so was I — D.).

The recruitment center didn’t seem like the right place to hold the protest. Most of these guys were just trying to make a living and support their families, and were sent into this crazy war. I think that our efforts may have been better spent protesting at congressional offices, since these are the folks who make the yay or nay decisions on whether to continue funding. 

(or better yet, use the net to use a protesting “voice” to reach more people and have your voice be heard… those of you wanting to read more can check out worldcantwait.org, rawstory.com or dailykos.com for differing accounts of what our government is up to versus the filtered versions via the mainstream media, what folks think about it, and ideas on what you can do about it — D.)

My Daddy is my hero.

 

But I digress. We then proceeded to walk in front of the recruitment center, but they had closed for the day. We were close to the corner of Broadway and Davis, so the organizers moved the protest there. Max and I stood at the corner with some of the protesters, and Dave followed a smaller group who walked the crosswalk (legally, of course) with their signs.

Go Daddy go!

(I SO have an FBI file now.  😉  — D.)

There were a lot of drivers who honked and gave us the thumbs up. It would have been great if they had actually stopped to lend their support in a more active way, but I’m sure that they had things to do, places to go, and people to see.

Mommy and I in front of the recruiting office, cheering the protesters on.

All in all, I thought that it was a good experience. It may be a small thing, but it was a way for us to express our disapproval of this war and the direction our government is taking us in. I hope that as Max grows older, he learns to also stand up for what he believes and not be afraid to challenge the powers that be.

I was so tired at the end of the day!