This is a generic comment on picketers, regardless of their raison d’etre: fuck off.
seriously.
march all you want, carry your shitty signs. i don’t care. what i do care about is you blocking my access and my freedom. your rights to protest don’t supersede my rights to not hear your incessant jaw-boning about not receiving whatever the fuck you think you’re entitled to. to wit:
Although I genuinely hope you weren’t badly injured, I’m not really super sympathetic. A coda: I once crossed a picket line - it felt great.
Similarly, I genuinely hope you don’t lose your job, but I won’t be really super sympathatic if you do. A coda: I once saw scabs laid off - now that REALLY felt great.
They’re co-equal, but no matter, I wrote something that didn’t properly convey what I desired.
I meant to convey the notion that your right to scream and picket does not supersede my right to enter onto property and get the hell away from the same picketers.
I don’t care about scabs. Or cockroaches. Or rats (except for the cute ones people keep as pets). Pretty much everything I care about to a certain degree.
I had driven 3 hours down the Mississippi to La Crosse, Wi to visit a state park and hit up the Company Store outlet for some new sheets. When I got to the outlet store, it was 10:45am and there were two people sitting in lawn chairs near the entrance. My first thought was “oh, they’re not open yet but must be having a great sale if folks are camping out for it to open!” I was jazzed, but I didn’t know when it was going to open. I park my car and feel a little creeped out because the couple is staring at me. I get out and make sure to audibly lock my car and walk up the door to see the fine-print style hours. I see a customer inside and see that they opened up at 10am. Hmph. I try the door and it opens and I walk in and forget about the two outside. I comb the store and find some really cute sheets for our daughter with lemons and limes on it. Then I notice a red piece of paper on the floor and pick it up out of sheer nosiness.
Then I realized that those two out there must be picketing the store. The red note summarized the plight like this article did:
I kind of know what the OP is saying. Hear me out.
I believe in free speech. But in the 90’s when worked in Pentagon I was going to work a line of picketers decided to block my entrance. Secrurity was there making a hole for those of us entering. But one of the priotesters jumped into my face and physically pushed me back yelling" don’t go in there!".
Admittedly my fisrt reaction was to kick his ass right there on the spot. This was beyond any political feelings…he put his hands on me. I can disagree with you all day long, but when you physically push me…well, someone is going to the ER. Me or you, it don’t matter. Besides, how smart is it to push a guy in an army uniform decorated with combat ribbons?
Anyway a bunch of cops jumped the guy and dragged him off before I could react. If they had asked I would not have chosen to press assualt charges though. To me his heart was in the right place, but his brain wasn’t. Why not protest in front of the capitol building where the decisions are made? Oh. I forgot…that might really be risky!
there are grey areas but I have a problem with protesters I will admit. Despite what they mkight feel about *raq or anything, to my mid, protesting in front of the Pentagon like that(they would often throw fake blood on the steps) is sily. Go do that to the people you elected not the folks that are only doing what they were mandated to do by your elected officials.
*I’m sure Der Trihs will come in here to tell me how evil al of us military guys are, because we’re all evilllllll for following an evillllll government. If he doesn’t I’ll be happily wrong. He doesn’t see grey areas in this.
It’s a 1924 campaign slogan, so there.