Today I went to a pro-choice rally in downtown Palmer. I was planning on going, as was Sarah Welton, who is the pastor of the Church of the Covenant/Meeting House. I decided to dress for the occasion. I wore red sneakers, my thing 1, thing 2 tee shirt and my Dr. Suess Hat. I chose this outfit because I thought I’d be amongst people who know me. I also carried a book by Susan B. Anthony in my backpack. Sarah wore her preacher regalia, a nice black hat, and a rainbow colored scarf. She had a special name for it, I don’t recall what it is. She carried a coat hanger and a well-designed sign.

I walked to the site where the rally was being held with Sarah and her partner Jeremy. He’s a large guy, has the build of a football player. Sarah said he was her bodyguard that he’d take care of her. I decided that if there was any violence that he might also watch out for me, which was why, when at the rally, I kept him in sight.

On the way to the train depot, we saw ahead of us, young people, wearing identical black tee shirts and shorts. This made me think of the Hitler Youth Campaign.

We arrived at the depot – there was a small crowd, perhaps two dozen people were there. The crowd consisted mainly of young women, with a smattering of older women. There were a handful of guys there.
Like Sarah, others had signs, but there’s were not as carefully crafted as hers.
After a bit, we marched over to main street and stood at the edge of the curb. A very young woman attempted to talk to us using a bull horn. She was not able to get it to work. She handed it back to the man who gave it to her, and he showed her how to operate it.

All the while we were followed by a tall gray-haired fellow wearing a tee-shirt that read: “Tell Biden to pay for your high gas prices.” He was carrying a video camera on a pole – and spent the remainder of his time making a video of the scene before him. Some attempted to block his video recording with their signs.

At the curb, we were lead in chants. A few of the black shirts clustered across the way, but then decided to leave. Very odd.

I, being older and wearing my stupid outfit, felt very out of place, as I think did Sarah. I thought there would be more people there, and more people I knew. So for the remainder of the time, I focused on watching the traffic – a good number of people, mainly women, mainly youngers, honked. Older white males did not.

Pat Chesbro, who is running for Lisa Murkowski’s U.S. senate seat, took the bullhorn and told everyone present that she is prochoice. I see her as being a one trick pony. She has not said what her views on other subjects might be. I refrained from telling her this – maybe another time.
This event took me back to the mid-nineties and the summer that I was a regular on the pro-choice line in Milwaukee, WI. I wished that I might tell the youngers about this. Undoubtedly, they would not be interested. Best to let them think they are forging new ground.

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