I drove 45 minutes to get to what is called "5 Points" in Modesto. We don't have public transit out here and this is the first time I had to drive myself to an action on CA's busy highways. The vigil/rally was only going to be an hour long, and I passed what looked like a four-car accident along the way, but still managed to get there on time. Only 5 folks RSVP'd so I didn't know if there'd be 5, 0, or 500 people there. When I arrived, there were about 30 or 40 gathered with chairs and posters galore. The action was from 5-6 PM. I'd never been to this location before. It's a perfect place for a protest because it's like 5 intersections. It was at rush hour and MANY drivers and pedestrians saw us. The group grew to 100+ in about 20 minutes! All ages. Over the years, it's good to see more young folks and not just us boomers! It was amazing. 95 percent of the folks who drove by/walked by were with in agreement with us. Only one person drove by and yelled, "You people disgust me!" At which point I yelled back, "Aren't you glad you live in a country where you can sill say things like that to us? We're fighting to keep those freedoms from being taken away!" A guy in a HUMMER drove by and yelled,"Peace! Right On!" We all thought THAT was interesting! I met some awesome folks. There were some private photographers. I was handed a flyer about more upcoming peace actions-evidently this is a common place for gatherings and I was invited to return. Like I said, this is the first time I'd ever been here; usually go to SF for the big demonstrations, but this time I wanted to go to something closer to home, especially since this was the first time I wasn't taking folks with me and I was a little nervous about going alone to SF. There was a baby in her stroller and she smiled during the whole hour. The majority of us were in front of a Denny's, the rest of us decided to split up to be at all 5 points of the busy intersection. It was very comfortable for folks like me (I'm somewhat disabled in such a way that I can't stand up for long periods at a time). There was no marching involved which was also nice for us older folks. We could sit on the wall in front of Denny's if we wanted. All Denny's asked us to do was to make sure we weren't parked in their parking lot because our action was bringing in a lot of customers and they were running out of room! Passengers in cars were taking photos of us. One driver yelled, "All politicians want to f--- us! Don't Vote!" Another yelled out, "My Brother's in Iraq-it's a terrible situation-Peace!" Other comments were, "Thank you!" "No more war!" "Right on-when I get this car home, I'll join you!" "We need healthcare!"
A man was selling bags that had the word peace on it in all different languages, another lady was handing out free tickets to a showing at the local theater of "The Day After," a 1983 TV movie about nuclear war. What looked like a 10-yr.-old sister and her teenage brother took turns holding a sign that had the word "WAR" on it with a slash going through the word. Folks had signs about our ailing environment, the invasions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, 9/11, healthcare, the housing crisis, recession, devaluation of the dollar, impeachment of Bush and Cheney, no more destruction of life, no more torture, bad international relations, dictatorship, and one sign that said Obama '08. (He had a huge sign). In my opinion, this type of sign can be distracting during a peace rally, and for folks just driving by and seeing us for only a few seconds, they might be misled into thinking it's an election gathering instead of antiwar/peace, but, hey, it's an election year so I guess what ever moves you to participate in one of these actions is OK by me. On the way back to my car, a Mexican young man with a clear Spanish accent came up to me and asked why I came to this action, how it made me feel to be here, etc. He wanted me to speak into his cell phone. I was happy to answer his questions. He was friendly and curious. I went home feeling happy about participating in this "local" action and I guess I want to say that you don't have to go to a big city to make your voice heard. Just go SOMEWHERE! It makes a difference! Also, it's great to have some of these actions at a time when folks are done with work for the day. Some of them are so afraid of leaving their job for the day in fear of getting laid off, which is why my boyfriend didn't come with me. With the economy the way it is, his bosses are threatening lay-offs, so "You'd better show up everyday, don't EVER show up late," etc... Thanks for letting me share my experience. ...PEACE...