The Problem with Peace Protests
... is that they're more schmooze-fest than action.
My mother took me and my son to a Mother's Day anti-war peace walk yesterday. It was supposed to start at 2:30 and be a walk along the path by the river, eventually crossing the river at one of the footbridges. Beautiful sunny day, river rushing past, why not? We figured my son would take his afternoon nap in the stroller as we walked, since he was about ready to doze off.
Well, at 3:00pm (with my son getting VERY fussy), after hanging around talking to several of my mother's friends, watching the crowd grow, etc., we finally saw an elderly woman walking up to the semi-circle of microphones. (??!? - why were there microphones here? Weren't we leaving here to go on a walk?) She announced that they would soon be ready to give some short speeches, and then we could start the march - and in the meantime, keep enjoying the marimba band.
Umm, ok. So either my mother didn't have a clear picture of what was going to happen, or they advertised poorly, or they figured, what the heck, it's not like people have anything else to do, so let them sit around for an hour while we chat.
We decided to take our walk by ourselves, and crossed the river to the duck pond, and had a lovely time. By the time we got back to the car, they were *just* packing up all their stuff. All I can think is, if the organizers are mothers, it's a wonder their children ever got anywhere on time.
My mother took me and my son to a Mother's Day anti-war peace walk yesterday. It was supposed to start at 2:30 and be a walk along the path by the river, eventually crossing the river at one of the footbridges. Beautiful sunny day, river rushing past, why not? We figured my son would take his afternoon nap in the stroller as we walked, since he was about ready to doze off.
Well, at 3:00pm (with my son getting VERY fussy), after hanging around talking to several of my mother's friends, watching the crowd grow, etc., we finally saw an elderly woman walking up to the semi-circle of microphones. (??!? - why were there microphones here? Weren't we leaving here to go on a walk?) She announced that they would soon be ready to give some short speeches, and then we could start the march - and in the meantime, keep enjoying the marimba band.
Umm, ok. So either my mother didn't have a clear picture of what was going to happen, or they advertised poorly, or they figured, what the heck, it's not like people have anything else to do, so let them sit around for an hour while we chat.
We decided to take our walk by ourselves, and crossed the river to the duck pond, and had a lovely time. By the time we got back to the car, they were *just* packing up all their stuff. All I can think is, if the organizers are mothers, it's a wonder their children ever got anywhere on time.
posted by Tzipporah at 12:24 PM
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