Well, I can scratch that off my list. I went to the StopWar.ca rally at the Art Gallery in Vancouver on Saturday March 15. A buddy made the trip in from Sechelt to attend and asked if wanted to join him. I figure, DOA is playing to kick it off, it won’t be that bad. And it wasn’t.
I commend people for feeling passionate enough about injustice far away from home to spend their Saturday afternoon dodging giant clusters of soapy foam blown off the Gallery fountain while being videotaped from all angles by who knows whom. I’ve been heavily focussed on survival at a personal level the last few years so I’ve never been involved in much larger than my life and the lives of those close to me. Or maybe I’m just not the type to get swept up by a cause to the point of protest in public.
After a few speakers, a biting wind from the East and hot air from the podium had combined to build in us a powerful thirst. So, like good Canadian men, we wandered off in search of cold beer. And missed the march I now find was part of the program.
Oh well, I’m not keen to disrupt traffic on a weekend when people with scarce time are trying to get places and get things done. Critical Mass on a bike messing with commuters is different…a highly annoying but legitimate assertion of rights to be on the road. The disruption is an end in itself.
Maybe I’ll add March with Picket Sign on to the list.