Walk in Someone Else's Shoes

As promised to myself http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/10/dont-let-em-say-you-aint-beautiful.html I took time away from the insanity of looking for work on generic employment websites developed by asshole cookie cutters McAffe and Taleo and decided to walk in someone else's shoes by visiting the Occupy Wall Street Movement http://occupywallst.org/ yesterday.


 I had to see for myself and try to understand the situation that they are in  
 What I saw and experienced was a mixture of everything. 

Purpose

 Hippies

 

 Weirdness

 
 

Organization, Albeit on the fly

 

Intelligence

 

Pain and Anger

 

 Suffering /Desperation / Homelessness

 

To sum it up I felt like it was a camp for survivors of a war, people who have lost everything. It reminded me of a mix of Woodstock and the old NY where the homeless people used to live all over the village.

I met Christopher Guerra, an artist and Occupy Wall Street protester from Newark, N.J.,
 


While I was there Mr Guerra (unique but peaceful guy) and a fellow protester was almost attacked for no reason by some crazy right winger

It was a surreal experience as I was somewhat placed in their shoes, felt their pain,  the road ahead will be difficult, but not impossible. This movement is far from perfect and may not accomplish everything it seeks to accomplish, but I applaud them for at least letting the world know that change is needed, that the recession is far from over, and people need help.



I know I quote Eminem a lot,  but to paraphrase him

"I took my bruises, took my lumps , Fell down and I got right back up
But I need that spark to get psyched back up , In order for me to pick work up
I don't know how or why or when I ended up in this position I'm in , I'm starting to feel decent again"

Ironically, I draw some inspiration from a sign that hangs over the ASA softball field I play on in Staten Island
 

Just gotta do it yourself