My awareness of Occupy Wall Street has been comprised of tweets from my friend Avi, and that’s pretty much it. I have been focused on my own problems lately, one of which is how on earth I’m going to find a job in the next few weeks. Quite fitting, now that I think about it. I pretty much live in my head anyway, occasionally stretching my neck to see what’s up in the “real world” when I remember it’s there.
Today was a free day for me. Nothing needed to be done, and I had a stack of library books, DVDs, and a full DVR to keep myself entertained. I got online to check email and tweets, and that’s how I got swept up in the movement. The Oregonian posted a link to the Livestream broadcast, and when I started watching there were already about 2,000 people gathered. I watched as they organized, grew, and started to move. Estimates placed the numbers around 5,000-6,000 people. Is that incredible or what?
Everyone was represented, from babies to seniors. Even though there were so many people, and even though they were loud as hell, it was a peaceful protest. And the Portland police dept. handled the situation really well. Seriously, the rest of the country should have been taking notes. As my heart swelled with pride, I thought, “Goddamn it, I absolutely love the people here.”
Me? Loving people? Yeah!
I love Portlanders. I love the easygoing lady I buy dog food from. I love the peppy chick working the produce department at the grocery store. I love the scruffy guy who nods at me as we cross paths on the sidewalk. I love the dude who gave me a thumbs up when I let him go ahead of me in traffic. People here are awesome, they really are. And they matter. We all matter. Not just here, but all over the country. Hell, all over the world. It is not fair that the richest 1% of the American population holds the wealth, while the remaining 99% shoulders the debt. Things need to change in a big way. I'm not much of an inspirational speaker, so thankfully many people are more eloquent than I am. Check out Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Portland for updates.
Today’s event added fuel to the fire behind my determination to stay in this area. It isn’t just the weather, the scenery, the vegan scene, the pet-friendliness. It’s the people here, too. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. I want to stay here and be a part of this community, and I will do anything, within reason, to make that happen.
Sorry, having my Kumbaya moment here. Will return to my usual crankiness soon, promise! Until then… I love you!
Sounds like a cool place to live
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why Portland is one of my dream places to move to after school.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Tampa's occupation is one of the bigger ones in the country? There's a 24 hour thing going on. Orlando doesn't have that, just once a week or so. I try to go but school's made it hard. You should go to one of them, if only for a few hours. The people's stories are saddening yet beautiful. The part that I love the most about this movement is that it is peaceful.
My inner hippie is pleased. :)