A Funny Thing Happened

On the Way to my Protest

April 19th - a big day for America. A bigger day in Massachusetts if you live near Lexington and Concord. About 50,000 people attended the re-enactment of the conflict at the North Bridge. This is serious stuff in this region. Just a few states declare Patriots Day (officially Monday) a holiday. Massachusetts and Maine (formerly of Massachusetts) are epicenters of this celebration of rebellion. A revolt defying a king and tariffs.

There would have been some serious logic to protesting in Concord. But I dislike really big crowds. No place to park. Although our little town borders Concord, it was still too far for this old guy to walk. And yet, what day could be more appropriate to speak my mind?

Like millions of Real Patriots who believe in our Constitution, Checks and Balances and the Rule of Law over the domination of obscenely wealthy and brutal oligarchs…my head is exploding with outrage, frustration and astonishment that the nation that so many sacrificed their lives for is coming apart at the seams. This must stop.

I have to do “something”! So I decided I would just march in front of our town hall. Alone. I mentioned my plan to a friend and neighbor. Just like me, Amy had not been a “protester” or highly active politically. Until now. We looked at each other and echoed: “This is just too much!”

Amy said she would join me. Impact doubled! But soon, Amy said her friend Sue would join us. We tripled. I carried a large American Flag. Our flag. Everybody’s flag. Here are some of the signs we wore.

We stood at a busy intersection. We got lots of smiles, waves, thumbs up and a whole lot of affirmative honking. It felt really good. There just a few thumbs down. And a guy on a bike pedaled by and said to us “You are being lied to.” I’ll leave it to you to figure out his meaning. My reaction was wow: ultimate projection.

But wait. There’s more. After standing and marching back and forth for over an hour, we saw a guy named Mike walking towards us - with his family! All were holding terrific signs like “Tariffs are Taxes!”. Now we were nine! Mike’s crew is from NYC and were visiting his sister. They had planned to attend an organized rally elsewhere. But they saw us and spontaneously joined. Feel our joy.

A germ of an idea shared with a friend grew into a significant “pop up” protest. What did we accomplish other than a sore back? We spoke up! We found solidarity! And as Amy said: “We are now part of a critical mass.” This is growing, folks. The resistance has just begun.

I was one. I became more. And hundreds of people driving by us had to think about the fact that our nation has been stolen by another king and his oligarchs.

Thank you Amy, Sue…and Mike with family.