Yesterday I had the good fortune to drive by the Dynergy picket line on Rt 9W a few miles south of Marlboro. Having an hour to spare, I parked my car in the nearby Hudson Diner (great breakfast!) and then joined the picketers. There, on that cold windy morning, the neutered abstractions of headlines and talking heads became manifest.
I took my place beside a 60-ish looking Dynergy worker who told me that he's been with the company for 30 years. He was terrified that his health care coverage and pension were about to disappear. Another picketer explained it as "Bain Capital corporate vulturism comng home to roost". His tone was not of a politician seeking to score points and win votes. His was a far more urgent struggle. And he was wearing no makeup.
I had a similar experience on elction day. After voting early in the morning for Jill Stein, I drove up to Piittsfield and knocked on doors in one of that city's more hardscrabble neighborhoods to get the vote out for Elizabet Warren. Real people, not poll numbers, answered the door. Now I'm not sure if I added a single vote to Warren's tally that day. But there is no doubt that I drove home from Pittsfield a wee bit wiser and more more committed to social and economic justice. Real encounters with real people have a way of doing that.
So here's the point. If you have even a half hour to spare today, I can think of no more edifying and envigorating way to spend it than to pick up a placard and join your neighbors in need. Shut off reality TV and a spend some time with reality itself. Just drive a few minutes north of I84 on route 9W and rediscover for the millionth time the reality of experience. ... oh, and dress warm.