So it all started this nice brisky, sunny morning. I went down to Gyro park in Penticton for this peace speech thing along with my great friend Ben. The speech was about getting troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Anyways, It's what happened after the speech where it got a little more exciting. Their was this flee market happening right beside the Gyro park. I decided to walk down the flea market street holding up my sign for everyone to see along with Ben. Then We caught up with our friend Marcel he was playing on the side of the flea market street along with this woman. So we decided to join them.. Ben was playing his bongo drum along with Marcel and the woman (I can't recall her name). Anyways I decided to stand behind them holding up my sign. This lady (the manager of the flea market) came up to me and asked me who I was with because she didn't see me sign up or anything. Marcel said that I was with the him. Then she said to get rid of the sign (well maybe not that harshly but something along those lines), I asked why and she said that she doesn't want anything political in the flea market. So Marcel he made a comment that him and Ben were both wearing t-shirts with political statements on them and asked if they should take off their shirts as well then. She just sort of ignored that factor. Then I was commenting about all the other signs at the flea market (example: dark roast coffe for this much money etc) and she said that they are all apart of the flea market and that no political stuff are allowed. So she kept on saying for me to get rid of the sign.. Then she left to go back up the other side of the street and so I decided to lift my sign up higher in the air (influenced a little by Ben and marcel who kept telling me to raise it higher haha). She saw me and came back down to us and said that she would have to escort me off the street (that the flee market was on). She didn't end up doing that, because all these people all of a sudden started siding with us (as in Ben, marcel, me and other people that sided with us) and she sort of went to the side trying not to be noticed I guess. Probably realizing that her and maybe a couple people were all only sided togeather and that she wasn't actually in power with everything going on on the streets (since the street is a public place). Haahaa... Then all of a sudden some people started taking pictures of us and me and my sign and people started debating with us... (which took maybe a whole half an hour) Some debating went on after everything that happened. All this was all over one sign. So it carried on for about a good half an hour. I would have liked to carry it on further but I am going to katimavik october 5th, and I'd probably be "escorted" to jail or something about everything that happened. I don't think my mom and her husband would be too thrilled to have to pay a bunch of money to bail me out. So we finally left it all alone. Marcel was debating quite a bit as well because he has had lots of experiance in his younger days, going through the same sort of stuff and being talked to and treated like shit for standing up for himself and freedom of speech. This one guy took a picture of Ben and I after everything that happened (I think he's planning on putting our picture in the upcoming newspaper)... Hopefully it will be about everything that happened instead of just: here is a girl and her friend holding up a sign of protest on a nice flee market day... Hopefully he gets the whole story or something and adds it to the picture. The guy asked how I spelt my name and everything and then asked for my last name.. He already knew how to spell Ben's last name and first name ouviously... hahaa. Nobody else was bothered at all by my sign or by me standing to the side with my sign, the only one that was really bothered by it was really the manager (who said over and over again that it was against the rules or whatever you call them of the flee market). So I guess freedom of speech is out the window.. I mean for one thing, I was protesting peacefully not shouting at the top of my lungs and disrupting everyone around me. I was doing it peacefully and not saying anything and just at the side.. I wasn't pushing my sign in people's faces or anything. when I get some pictures I'll try to post them onto here.
eh, it seems to me that if you're in someone's place of business, you should respect their rules. the woman asked you politely not to drag a sign through the market, i would have respected that wish and kept my protesting to the streets. the speech was over, the protest was over, and you had left the park. i would have left the woman alone. my two cents. peace,
I may be wrong, it might just be because the woman is a bitch, but I heard many stores in the US right now that post political stuff that's not in favor of bush and who host people who do the same actually have the secret service come to their place of work and interrogate them, nobody wants that do they...
The vendors were there for a flea market. They didn't want to see a conflict started that might scare people off. Likewise, it would be disruptive to try to start up a flea market at the park protest. Next time consider registering for the flea market too. You can sell some protest signs or T-shirts and donate the money to a worthy cause. They won't be able to kick you out for that. .
If you are Canadian, then why are you trying to convince other canadians to get their troops out of Iraq. You guys aren't in Iraq, right? And it seems that you were being a douche, did you get enough attention as a young child?
Sounds like the way to go. It is always nice to hear a voice of reason. Protest involves effective action that does not needlessly upset the audience. That at least is my view. However, I am often wrong.
that, i think, is worthy of a quote. why protest? to get something done, not just cause disruption. causing a hassle at the flea market was pointless and inconsiderate. bringing your sign & words to the organized peaceful protest at the park was admirable. i agree with you, paul & shaggie. peace,
