My partner and I went to the anti-Trump rally as "inactivists":
We had a few people ask to take our picture. Most folks got the humor. I even got a few "I can respect that" comments from people who weren't sure if I was serious or not.
I did talk to the counter-protest. It was one lady and her kids. I think abortion must be her issue, as her sign said something about Trump is love because his policies would save lives. She had a bunch of tiny writing around the edges, "d...s out for Harambe" was the only one I read. I find that funny, but have no idea what it's about. I mean, I know the Harambe story, I just don't get the tie in with exposed genitals.
Two women did talk to me and my partner. The really short women talked to my partner about how sexual assault was a big problem in the military and the President Elect is a voyeur so he's going to make it ok. There conversation went downhill pretty quick. The one who talked to me asked what I would do if I saw the crowd beating a Trump supporter. I told her video it and be a great witness. She then made her argument Trump should step down because "thousands of people are hurting people in his name" and he should speak out against it. I told her that a-holes will be a-holes, they aren't going to stop being a-holes if Trump steps down...and it's unfair to assign him control of the a-holes. She thinks he should speak out more against it or he's responsible for it. Sounds a lot like the arguments I see about Islam, and I mentioned to her I converted in '04 and what she was doing to Trump supporters was exactly what she'd flip out about if people did it to Muslims. She had some logical backflips about how it's not the same because he's alive and can speak out against it...you really think a politician is going to involve himself in that mess beyond what he's already done? Lulz. I will say she was respectful and honestly wanted to have a conversation, even if she was (in my opinion) pretty wrong headed. There's plenty of real issues to worry about without making things up. I told her I was truly not a Trump or Hillary supporter, I thought they were both deeply flawed and unfit to be the candidates for a major political party...but he won so let's see what he actually does before we flip out. My partner was about to strangle the oompa-loompa he was talking to, so we called it a day. Plus I was starting to feel like an activist, and the inactivist creed specifically prohibits that.
We saw a guy in his early twenties complaining to a group of anti-Trumpers that he got spit on by the crowd for supporting Trump. They told him that was not the spirit of the rally. Frankly, I think he was full of poo and just looking for attention. The crowd was small and even with our signs, no one was the least bit rude or hostile to us. I didn't see him in the crowd, just walking on the sidewalk.
A bit before we left, two guys in a surplus military 5-ton were driving around with a big Trump/Pence sign on the side blowing the horn. I thought it was funny. Some young chick about ran over us to get a picture of it and was visibily upset. "Can you believe it?" "Uh...yeah?"
As we walked back to my partner's car a guy in a black SUV, who obviously didn't or couldn't read our signs, pulls up and gives a smug "Go Trump" like he's going to irritate us, then pulled off. Uh, ok, have a great day. I think you should have read the signs first...but what evs.
Random thoughts:
Putting a mask on AFTER you get to the protest seems like you're doing it wrong.
The guy who made the 3' tall paper mache Obama mask...nicely done. You put way more work into your sign than we did.
To the lady with the sign with a drawing of lady parts and the words "This one grabs back"....uh...what?
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Originally Posted by ASH556
No, we're work partners.
