He has held this vigil since just before President Bush ordered the invasion and occupation of Iraq in March, 2003. Often John hosts them seemingly alone, but in fact he is never alone, as people such as I come and join him for parts of his vigil. And when you are along Pacific Coast Highway during rush hour traffic you are never alone.
John prepared this summary, finishing it at 3 am this morning. As you will see, he is actively involved in the peace process all week long in his thought process and his communication with others.
Well, in about another 14 hours, I'll be out on the corner again, and I haven't journaled last Friday or anything since. Starting with today and working my way backwards is easier on my recall, and today's events of interest are the high point of the whole week anyway. Though they didn't take place on 'the corner', they are all 'corner' related.
The first happening took place in my neighborhood hardware store about noon, when I was looking for some hardware for a peace sign flag pole. A senior-aged Asian man stopped me and said, "I like your peace badge", referring to a poker chip with the peace sign marker-penned on the front and attached to my shirt by a safety pin thing hot glued to the back.
I took it off and held it out to him, and said that I would be happy if he would accept and wear it. As he was starting to refuse it, I pulled another one from my pocket and was pinning it on myself, saying that I made them and carried them to give to people who showed an interest and who I thought would wear them. We both enjoyed the event and shook hands goodbye.
The next event was more spectacular and may be the most spectacular anecdote of all of my 'corner' experiences. I was at Staples picking up some PEACE items: a t-shirt I had had 'Veterans for Peace' printed on the back of, and a stamp gadget that can make thousands of red peace sign images printed on whatever. ( I use it on credit card receipts, restaurant bills, and all the paper money I spend.)
Anyway, as I was heading for my car in the parking lot, I see this black guy in a fantastic outfit covered with peace sign paraphernalia. I speak out that he and I are sending the same message but that he is so damned much more eloquent about it, as I show him the poker-chip pin on my shirt. But he says my 'badge' is cool, and as I hand it and explain it's purpose to him, he notices the home-madeness of it, and says that he made the vest and the big bag hanging from his neck. The vest and bag and cap being covered with sewn on and painted peace signs.
He figures we're about the same age and from the magic 60s, and I notice that we both had slipped into the jargon and vernacular of that time: man, cool, bitchin, groovy, far out, solid, hip, etc. I think if the right music had occurred, he and I might still be dancing in that parking lot. But it didn't, so I asked if I could get his picture and he said yes, and I got a couple. Then I saw the car he was opening and asked if I could get a picture of him standing by it, because it had a large conspicuous peace sign decal on the rear window. After I took it, I showed him my car's rear end with a 'Veterans for Peace' sign in the back window and a 'War Is Not The Answer' bumper sticker. We celebrated all over again ! It seemed like PEACE was in the air.
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