Comfort Zones and Causes

 

I've never been very political.

And until just the other day I had never been involved in any form of public protest.

My son's partner changed all that.

Suffice it to say the world is a complete shit show right now.

The Ukraine.

Mass shootings.

Roe v. Wade.

As a young woman (preferred pronouns they/them/their) not even of legal drinking age yet, they are angry. 

And so very disappointed in the direction our country has rapidly been going down.

And so it was because of them that I found myself standing on the sidewalk watching the parade go by standing next to them all dressed in black holding their sign.

The woman in pink just to the right of the sign was very supportive and even helped to brace one side of the sign while I did the other whenever the wind would kick up.

After the parade was done it was decided we should walk down the street to our neighbor/friend's house to say hi. As there was no room on the sidewalk we just followed the last vehicle in the parade lineup down the middle of the street.

And just like that we were in the parade.

Now, if you had told me that morning that that was what I was going to end up doing I would have definitely taken the time to put on some different clothes so that I wasn't marching down main street helping to hold up a protest sign in front of everyone wearing my pajamas. Not my most flattering outfit.

I'm kind of cringing looking at this picture in the now.

But at that moment, it was all about the cheers, the clapping, the women saying "thank you!" as we passed. The man that said "Great way to end the parade!"

The woman that marched with us, and her friend Paul.

The two old white guys wearing Trump shirts who booed us, and Paul assuring us "that's how you know you're doing something right!"

And last but not least, it was about the women who would ease by us, touching a shoulder as they passed, and saying "thank you"as they looked into our eyes.

It was about supporting the next generation  of young voters. They are disappointed, scared, frustrated, and angry. They are informing themselves of the issues, who the candidates are, and they are going to vote.

I am feeling vaguely hopeful for the first time in years.