#Occupy

So I've somehow found myself part of Occupy Chicago these past few weeks. Emily has half-heartedly tried to get me to join in on protests in the past, and our apartment looks like Occupy threw up on it, but I never really took that much of an interest.

It started a few weeks ago, when Emily told me about a flash mob that had been formed, and their need for more participants. Being part of a flash mob has been on my to-do list for a number of years (since they really started taking off), so I immediately volunteered to embarrass myself in public.

I didn't realize (but should have guessed) at the time that it was an Occupy-organized event. The first practice I went to was scheduled at 9:00, and I was on time, but the preceding Occupy General Assembly meeting ran two hours overtime-- it didn't end until 11. So for two hours I sat on the floor with everyone else and learned all about current Occupy-related things. Then we danced for about 30 minutes and I went home.

The second G.A. also ran overtime: which I expected, and would have arrived late, except for the fact that I actually arrived early, with Emily, because she had some stuff to discuss with people beforehand. For that meeting I was there from start to finish, and even voted on one thing because I promised Emily I would.

It was becoming clear to me that this was not a true flash mob. For one, the small handful of people dancing was not growing. Secondly, I gathered that the dance was to take place in the middle of a court protest, thus nullifying the true nature of a flash mob (completely out of the blue).
I decided, however, that it was as close as I was going to get, and since I had spent all this time waiting and learning the dance, I might as well do it.

Today was the protest, scheduled during lunch time, which worked out OK for me. When I got there, people were just starting to gather and pass out signs. Since no one else volunteered for it, I ended up holding one of the poles on a very long banner for a little bit, and there was a lot of chanting. (There were also a lot of cameras, and if I find a clip from the news or something that has me in it, I will post it here. Stay tuned, you could watch me looking very uncomfortable!)

Then after about 20 minutes we started the music (99 Red Balloons), and the measley 9 of us danced with our red balloons for about 4 minutes, then I fled to go back to class.

Still, I feel so politically active. I even went to the Town Hall meeting at school.