Occupy Boston

wandered down to Occupy Boston today and collected some stories. like the homeless veteran who volunteers with the safety crew and talked to me about his experience with Pink Floyd right after Dark Side of the Moon came out (i was wearing my hoodie for exactly this purpose). and the young man with Asperger's Syndrome who came up to me in the sign-making tent and just started talking about what he's "learned from history." and the young woman who saw my "misogyny hurts your mother" sign and asked me if i'd been to a slutwalk. and the older woman who read it, looked at me with a grateful smile and touched her hand to her heart. and the men with accents different from my own who asked me what the word means. and the beautifully effective mode of communication that is a "mike check." and the way you can feel the meditation tent before you see it. and the big tent in the middle of the camp with "LOCAL IRONWORKERS 7" written on the side. and the verizon truck driver who went past with both hands pressed into his horn. and the middle-aged woman who, when asked if her dog was "a man or lady?" said, "this is Jack."

then we rode the T home and overheard a college-aged woman telling her friend that her mother is going to New York to Occupy Wall Street this weekend and invited her to join. the daughter's response was, "no way!" she then went on to say of her mother, "she's such a, like, activist." as if that were a bad thing.

i hope one day that girl understands that all of us are protesting for her right to feel like she doesn't need to.