Workers of the world pt. 2
As I approached the concourse of the Mullins center, it became ever clearer that I was in the midst of what one might call a police presence. There were cops directing traffic, cops in patrol cars, cops on horse back. Cops here, cops there. Some grim, some jovial (neither of which really made me feel much better--I don't know if its better to have one's skull bashed in by a deadpan cop or one whose laughing). They were everywhere.
I rounded the corner and there it was. I had a view of it from the side, the opposite side from when I saw it on my way in. I did not get a good look at it from the front because there had been a cop there and I didn't want to look supicious. I had the feeling that if these people had an idea that I was there for the protest I would have been arrested immediately. I knew that if one of them stopped to ask what I was doing, I would tell them that I was an undergraduate and fake stupidity. After all, I am 32. If I was still an undergraduate, chances are I wouldn't be the brightest of the bunch.
Regardless, there it was: two tracks, one in front of the other, and tall. A tank.
And right behind it, a boat. Now, I realize that UMass has a really cool pond in the middle of it, but it's still just a pond. You could run around it if someone tried to get away from you without too much trouble. You don't need to call out Aquaman for any crime likely to be committed on the UMass campus. In that same vein, you don't need a boat. But they had a boat.
I tried to imagine them dragging the boat up the hill, but I couldn't think of any reason that would pay off such an eneavor. I mean, the tank I understand. Nothing says, "DISPERSE!" like tear gas and a tank, but a boat?
A group of people carrying signs that read, "No Contract, No Peace," which is our Union motto crossed the street approaching both tank and boat, and I thought, 'Great! If all these cops are going to arrest somebody it will be these idiots flying right into the belly of the beast, and hopefully, in all this confusion, they won't hassle me.' But then I saw the tank from the front.
I had been a little premature in my decision to call the vehicle a tank. Snowplow would probably be a little more accurate. Farm equipment painted in state police colors maybe? The group of protestors stopped in front of one of the mounted police and...
...and ASKED whether they could protest there. And the cop said, "Just stay off the grass and don't bother the people in the graduation."
Ummm.... Rrrrrnnnn.... Huh?
I rounded the corner and there it was. I had a view of it from the side, the opposite side from when I saw it on my way in. I did not get a good look at it from the front because there had been a cop there and I didn't want to look supicious. I had the feeling that if these people had an idea that I was there for the protest I would have been arrested immediately. I knew that if one of them stopped to ask what I was doing, I would tell them that I was an undergraduate and fake stupidity. After all, I am 32. If I was still an undergraduate, chances are I wouldn't be the brightest of the bunch.
Regardless, there it was: two tracks, one in front of the other, and tall. A tank.
And right behind it, a boat. Now, I realize that UMass has a really cool pond in the middle of it, but it's still just a pond. You could run around it if someone tried to get away from you without too much trouble. You don't need to call out Aquaman for any crime likely to be committed on the UMass campus. In that same vein, you don't need a boat. But they had a boat.
I tried to imagine them dragging the boat up the hill, but I couldn't think of any reason that would pay off such an eneavor. I mean, the tank I understand. Nothing says, "DISPERSE!" like tear gas and a tank, but a boat?
A group of people carrying signs that read, "No Contract, No Peace," which is our Union motto crossed the street approaching both tank and boat, and I thought, 'Great! If all these cops are going to arrest somebody it will be these idiots flying right into the belly of the beast, and hopefully, in all this confusion, they won't hassle me.' But then I saw the tank from the front.
I had been a little premature in my decision to call the vehicle a tank. Snowplow would probably be a little more accurate. Farm equipment painted in state police colors maybe? The group of protestors stopped in front of one of the mounted police and...
...and ASKED whether they could protest there. And the cop said, "Just stay off the grass and don't bother the people in the graduation."
Ummm.... Rrrrrnnnn.... Huh?
posted by Monstro D. Whale at
5:13 PM
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