A friend and I walked to the capital after work today. It was pretty quiet, compared to what it was like earlier in the day. Don't get me wrong, there were still a boatload of people, but nothing like the 50,000 or-so crowd-size that they talked about earlier in the day.
I wanted to share some pictures with you from the rally. But I didn’t have my camera, so I only have a few from my phone. They’re pretty blurry. So I’ll use my words to describe what I saw tonight. [And go back tomorrow for photos!].
The crowds were very kind. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “excuse me” while people were bumping into each other. Some people were passing out food. To strangers. Or the woman who said “bless you” to a sneezing stranger. At a protest. I can’t imagine this happening in many other places outside the midwest. I hope this continues. Tomorrow the Tea Party is arriving, and while I’m glad they’re also using their voices, I hope that the crowd will be able to continue to peacefully gather and stand united. Without riot or chaos. Here’s a photo from inside the capital, when the democrats from the house of representatives came out to motivate the crowd. They’re all wearing orange shirts that say “fighting for WI families.” Pretty cool.
I quickly became obsessed with the witty, and poignant, signage that folks were carrying. Some of my favorites were:
- You screw us, we multiply.
- My collectively-bargained 30-minute lunch won’t balance the budget.
- Don’t drink the tea! It’s full of crap.
- In school we call this Bullying. In politics, progress.
- Egypt – Libya – Jordan – Yemen – Wisconsin?
- Teachers Working Conditions are Students Learning Conditions
- Hey Walker – Just follow the yellow brick road . . . [insert hand-glued brick road] Maybe the wizard can give you a BRAIN, a Heart [insert heart-shape here] and COURAGE to do the right thing! [I’ve decided that this was clearly made by a teacher.]
- Labor Rights are Human Rights.
The simplicity and power behind this one totally caught me off guard.
I think it’s because I could picture at many of my staff carrying it.
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