Sunday, October 31, 2010
DC rally addendum
due to the length of the previous post i was unable to mention that i was possibly going to try and catch up with good friend Diane, but due to the crowds (massive) that turned into an impossible dream. oh well, next time Di.
Rally for Sanity 10/30/2010 - I was there
i made the decision to attend the Stewart/Colbert for one good reason that turned into several. the main reason was because i am SICK AND TIRED!!! of the bashing, fear mongering, negativity, lies and other crap that is prevalent in the media today in regards to the politics of this country.
i had gotten to the point where i wasn't even watching The Daily Show because i'd lost my sense of humor over the whole thing, so i came late to the word about the rally. even then i didn't jump on the bus (hah!) right away.
but somewhere along the way i occurred to me that here was a way to demonstrate where i stand on what i find is lacking in the discourse of our country at this time (truthfully, this is nothing new, it's just more virulent due to the 24/7 news outlets.)
so i went, and here is my accounting of the event.
first i decided that since the bus was leaving at 4am (!!!!) i would need to stay up and leave the house at 3am and so decided not to go to sleep beforehand thinking i would snooze on the bus. when i got to the Amtrak station where the buses were departing from (they had enough people for two from Pittsburgh) there were a few people already there. in short order more and more trickled in (i think we made the Amtrak guy nervous - he stayed in his office the entire time.)
eventually the bus captains made themselves known and divided us into bus #1 and #2 (i was on #1). my seat mate was one of a party of three women, a mother and two daughters, who had come down from Erie and had apparently not spoken with each other since... ever. (i got to know more that i ever wanted to about Dad, the dogs, and Tupperware.) our scheduled departure was supposed to be at 4:10am (.!.) for various, probably good reasons, we left at 4:30am, but since the rally wasn't scheduled to start until 1pm we had plenty of margin for delay.
in fact, i actually questioned why all of the buses listed were trying to arrive at 9am. got no official answer, but figured it out once we got there.
the trip was without incident - no accidentally leaving anyone at the rest stop, no humongous pile ups, no kids screaming in the background... kewl.
we arrived at 9:27am at Union Station, and as we were pulling in i suddenly realized that i had completely underestimated the size of this thing. i knew it was going to be big, but from the looks of the crowds streaming toward the mall it was actually going to surpass big and go toward mega. (i actually wrote in my little notebook that 'this is going to be epic')
i took the opportunity on this trip to see my youngest sister Dierdra (aka Gigi). mom, who lives in the area, was out of town helping a very good family friend through post surgical recovery and couldn't make it, though she wanted to. Gi and i hooked up at the station, had a bite to eat and then proceeded towards the grounds.
did i say epic? another word to describe the situation is 'packed'. words describing the energy - 'calm excitement', 'amused anticipation', and 'extremely creative'. yes, there were people in all kinds of costumes - some that made sense, others that were lost on me. one of the concurrent events going on during this weekend, on this day, was a "zombie crawl", so there were lots of zombiefied folks mingling with the rest of us.
Gigi, who is a photographer, took lots of pictures of costumes. i tried to concentrate on the signs, many of which were extremely funny in making their points. (i will try and figure out how to upload some of them so you get the idea.)
anyhoo, the area by the stage was so packed we were told to head further back. our goal was to find a jumbo-tron and hopefully see and hear from there. but the crowds kept going, and going, and going. we ended up near the Air and Space Museum packed in like sardines, barely able to see anything, much less hear. oh well.
occasionally someone would remember to speak into their mic, but more often than not we'd just start waves of "LOUD-ER, LOUD-ER!!" not that that helped, but we tried.
despite the inability to hear and understand most of what was happening, the rallygoers were, for the most part, cheerful and polite. there were some medical incidents nearby, but they seemed to be minor, non-life threatening events (probably extreme claustrophobia).
after the rally the crowds moved lemming-like in one direction or the other heading for food, museums, exits or home. it looked like a march rather than a dispersement.
Gigi and I had dinner in the food court in the train station (wonderful crab cake and shrimp) and then we parted after making plans for the family Thanksgiving gathering.
so, you may ask, even though i heard little, saw even less and spent money i shouldn't have, was it worth it?
my answer is Absolutely YES! several people told me before i left that they wished they could have gone. i announced to family and friends that i was representing them, in the same way pollsters assume one person represents the opinions of <insert # here>, except i had permission from most of those who i was supposedly representing. the message that came through, even though it was muffled, was that America is not only a land of 'isms - racism, sexism, elitism, etc. there are many folks out there with many points of view who want to talk with each other and find common ground.
that 'the media' is not our voice, and should not assume they know what it is we want without asking people other than those who side with only one group or the other. that hatred, bile and prejudice are not the answer to what ails America - information, humor and rationality are.
these are the reasons i went to Washington, D.C. (that, and to see my sister), so i could be counted among those who are calling for sanity, not fear. for politeness, not vitriol. for smiles, not frowns. and 'cuz, ultimately, it was fun.
i am writing this the day after having slept in late and recovered my cat (Vivre did not come back in before i left and thus spent all yesterday outside or wherever - she returned at noon today and, after eating a very late breakfast, has been sleeping on my lap since.)
i've left out a lot, i know, but on the other had if i type too much more this thing will be way longer than it already is.
btw, i'm fairly sure the rally is on Comedy Central online, and i'm going to watch it since i didn't see it when i was there.
also, i find it interesting that there is very little coverage of it online or on the news, although the guesstimates are that approximately 215,000 attended.
now that's epic.
D
i had gotten to the point where i wasn't even watching The Daily Show because i'd lost my sense of humor over the whole thing, so i came late to the word about the rally. even then i didn't jump on the bus (hah!) right away.
but somewhere along the way i occurred to me that here was a way to demonstrate where i stand on what i find is lacking in the discourse of our country at this time (truthfully, this is nothing new, it's just more virulent due to the 24/7 news outlets.)
so i went, and here is my accounting of the event.
first i decided that since the bus was leaving at 4am (!!!!) i would need to stay up and leave the house at 3am and so decided not to go to sleep beforehand thinking i would snooze on the bus. when i got to the Amtrak station where the buses were departing from (they had enough people for two from Pittsburgh) there were a few people already there. in short order more and more trickled in (i think we made the Amtrak guy nervous - he stayed in his office the entire time.)
eventually the bus captains made themselves known and divided us into bus #1 and #2 (i was on #1). my seat mate was one of a party of three women, a mother and two daughters, who had come down from Erie and had apparently not spoken with each other since... ever. (i got to know more that i ever wanted to about Dad, the dogs, and Tupperware.) our scheduled departure was supposed to be at 4:10am (.!.) for various, probably good reasons, we left at 4:30am, but since the rally wasn't scheduled to start until 1pm we had plenty of margin for delay.
in fact, i actually questioned why all of the buses listed were trying to arrive at 9am. got no official answer, but figured it out once we got there.
the trip was without incident - no accidentally leaving anyone at the rest stop, no humongous pile ups, no kids screaming in the background... kewl.
we arrived at 9:27am at Union Station, and as we were pulling in i suddenly realized that i had completely underestimated the size of this thing. i knew it was going to be big, but from the looks of the crowds streaming toward the mall it was actually going to surpass big and go toward mega. (i actually wrote in my little notebook that 'this is going to be epic')
i took the opportunity on this trip to see my youngest sister Dierdra (aka Gigi). mom, who lives in the area, was out of town helping a very good family friend through post surgical recovery and couldn't make it, though she wanted to. Gi and i hooked up at the station, had a bite to eat and then proceeded towards the grounds.
did i say epic? another word to describe the situation is 'packed'. words describing the energy - 'calm excitement', 'amused anticipation', and 'extremely creative'. yes, there were people in all kinds of costumes - some that made sense, others that were lost on me. one of the concurrent events going on during this weekend, on this day, was a "zombie crawl", so there were lots of zombiefied folks mingling with the rest of us.
Gigi, who is a photographer, took lots of pictures of costumes. i tried to concentrate on the signs, many of which were extremely funny in making their points. (i will try and figure out how to upload some of them so you get the idea.)
anyhoo, the area by the stage was so packed we were told to head further back. our goal was to find a jumbo-tron and hopefully see and hear from there. but the crowds kept going, and going, and going. we ended up near the Air and Space Museum packed in like sardines, barely able to see anything, much less hear. oh well.
occasionally someone would remember to speak into their mic, but more often than not we'd just start waves of "LOUD-ER, LOUD-ER!!" not that that helped, but we tried.
despite the inability to hear and understand most of what was happening, the rallygoers were, for the most part, cheerful and polite. there were some medical incidents nearby, but they seemed to be minor, non-life threatening events (probably extreme claustrophobia).
after the rally the crowds moved lemming-like in one direction or the other heading for food, museums, exits or home. it looked like a march rather than a dispersement.
Gigi and I had dinner in the food court in the train station (wonderful crab cake and shrimp) and then we parted after making plans for the family Thanksgiving gathering.
so, you may ask, even though i heard little, saw even less and spent money i shouldn't have, was it worth it?
my answer is Absolutely YES! several people told me before i left that they wished they could have gone. i announced to family and friends that i was representing them, in the same way pollsters assume one person represents the opinions of <insert # here>, except i had permission from most of those who i was supposedly representing. the message that came through, even though it was muffled, was that America is not only a land of 'isms - racism, sexism, elitism, etc. there are many folks out there with many points of view who want to talk with each other and find common ground.
that 'the media' is not our voice, and should not assume they know what it is we want without asking people other than those who side with only one group or the other. that hatred, bile and prejudice are not the answer to what ails America - information, humor and rationality are.
these are the reasons i went to Washington, D.C. (that, and to see my sister), so i could be counted among those who are calling for sanity, not fear. for politeness, not vitriol. for smiles, not frowns. and 'cuz, ultimately, it was fun.
i am writing this the day after having slept in late and recovered my cat (Vivre did not come back in before i left and thus spent all yesterday outside or wherever - she returned at noon today and, after eating a very late breakfast, has been sleeping on my lap since.)
i've left out a lot, i know, but on the other had if i type too much more this thing will be way longer than it already is.
btw, i'm fairly sure the rally is on Comedy Central online, and i'm going to watch it since i didn't see it when i was there.
also, i find it interesting that there is very little coverage of it online or on the news, although the guesstimates are that approximately 215,000 attended.
now that's epic.
D
Hello from Me
This is my first post. I should state here that this will probably not be a regular occurrence since that would mean I'm doing something regularly - not one of my strengths.
Some of you may know me from my Critter Chronicles. Others will come to know me because of them because this will mostly be about them. However, on occasion, Other Stuff will occur in my life that I will feel compelled to talk about.
A word of warning - after this post my use of capitals will deteriorate, by design. I type faster when I don't have to pay attention to the conventions (call me a rebel, if you dare! not that it matters - I won't hear you.)
Well, that's about if for this first bit. Stay tuned.
Denice
Some of you may know me from my Critter Chronicles. Others will come to know me because of them because this will mostly be about them. However, on occasion, Other Stuff will occur in my life that I will feel compelled to talk about.
A word of warning - after this post my use of capitals will deteriorate, by design. I type faster when I don't have to pay attention to the conventions (call me a rebel, if you dare! not that it matters - I won't hear you.)
Well, that's about if for this first bit. Stay tuned.
Denice
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