Jabberwocky for 2005 October 10

(1) Mon Oct 10 2005 15:40 Under Protest: I forgot to mention a couple of vignettes of the protest. One was a man standing all alone, holding an 8x10 portrait of his adorable kiddles. In the other hand he carried a sign that said, "How sad! After 20 years the Bakersfield Business Conference ends on a note of bigotry."

Then I saw a mother who had brought her five girls--ranging in ages from teen to about five. They were having the time of their lives, smiling and laughing.

It took me back. My mother never took me to any protests although she was very anti the war in Vietnam. But she did take me to teacher strikes, which was fun and meaningful. I remembered those old days when I worked for BCDS and went to picket with the other teachers. We picketed at Compton Jr. High, not at our school, because our school was tucked back in a neighborhood off the beaten path and nobody would see us.

Robert tells me that Mom got up out of her deathbed to go picket so the teachers in her district wouldn't lose their health benefits.

I haven't been to do a picket or a protest in a very long time, and I like to think it's because of my health, but still. Look at the example of my mother. I should go. Peace Bakersfield holds a protest every Friday night. Also there are occasionally gay rights and pro-choice marches which I could attend. Or I could counter the people who harass women in front of the abortion clinic. Those folks are hard core.

I would never choose abortion for myself, but I don't think it's anybody's business and certainly not the government's. I am thinking Big Brother has made a lot of recent inroads into the fabric of American life, and it makes me nervous.