Monday, May 01, 2006

Protest Heyday

I wish the crowd
Wasn't quite so loud.

Yes, that is my self-centered remark about the immigration march. They went by my window for a full 2.5 hours of chanting and drums and occasional horns, holding flags, mostly American and Mexican, but with many other countries represented as well. As is to be expected, there was some evidence of the radical left: a Che banner, a "Workers of the World Unite" banner. But mostly it looked like ordinary people.

It was hard to work with all the racket. People in the office kept coming by my window for a look, too, further disrupting my efforts to concentrate and code.

I walked among them a bit. I overheard a teenage boy, on seeing a black police van, say "They can't arrest us all." I also heard a 3 year old girl say "Grandma!" I think the younger generation is picking up el Ingles.

They need to learn English, so that they
Can read my verses every day.

Picture of crowd with huge flag.

Picture of cleanup crew.

Update: according to local Fox TV news, police put the crowd at 400,000, making it the biggest demonstration in Chicago history. They reported there had been no arrests. Is that even possible?

1 comment:

John Enright said...

It was a lot of fun! You would have enjoyed it, I'm sure.