My UNexpected Return to Occupy Boston

I'd beat feet towards Dewey, the plan was to kill some time wiling away the miles maybe making Castle Island before the rain really started.  I'd completely forgotten that Occupy Boston had something in the works. "Ships in the night" text messages with  "Occu-observer" UNGregular himself aside, I'm a flake and had forgotten about the march earlier in the day.  (At last word, a couple of cats had been arrested, and bail is being made?)


My curiosity was piqued as I rounded onto Summer St. and saw a line of unmarked Police cars along the Bank of America building.  I'd seen folks with signs wandering towards the fed, and with a visible police presence along with about 50 people converging on the building.  The rubber necker in me jumped gleefully clapping hands and pissing itself in delight. I gave into the urge to hobble across the street to find myself nervously shuffling along the outer edges of the crowd.  Good luck, bad timing, or the imp of the perverse, OBers did the perfect thing to set me at ease.  Of all things, they sang "Happy Birthday" to one of the OB organizers (apologies, her name escapes me).


I'd walked in on a sea of familiar faces, folks that I'd railed against, been railed at by, that I'd marginalized, categorized etc.  As the final strains of "Happy birthday to you..." rang against the Federal Reserve, my ego, and with it my hang-ups about Occupy Boston dissolved in the rain.  With an almost audible pop my perception shifted. The familiarity between occupiers that had once intimidated me, now felt welcoming. Smiles to and from strangers, and old hats alike given and returned.  The feeling that even though I wasn't actively participating in the consensus process, my presence was appreciated.  I was and am completely stymied.


I walked away.  Fully intent on continuing my trek down Summer St. and through to the harbor.  As I walked, almost against my will I swung like a compass needle around the building completing a circuit back my starting point.  The General Assembly acting like a kind of very loud lode stone to my bewildered shambling.  Leaving once again to shore up an aching back with some acetaminophen and cannabis, only to find myself once again "Slouching towards Dewey".


I didn't get much walking done today... 


Some kind of update:
News and updates can be found at www.occupyboston.org.


Upcoming super fun times include a day of action on April 4th, there's a public hearing regarding the MBTA, in inner workings of which I am woefully ignorant of.


The hearing is at 3PM at the statehouse, followed by more of the previously mentioned "super fun times"


This may be old news for some, but this goes back to a an unmentioned moment where I was reminded of the importance of "municipal victories"...


"On the anniversary of Dr. King’s death, April 4, transit workers join together with the occupy movement and transit passengers across the country to honor Dr. King’s legacy. Dr. King declared “transit systems in most American cities…have become a genuine civil rights issue…"