Occupy Portland, Day 15.

tempting... but no thanks

I walk by this park every day on my way from the bus to the office. Sometimes someone is screaming into a megaphone. Other times a drum circle is surrounded by people dancing. Once in a while it's quiet.

The protest signs range from clever ("bros before CEOs!") to angry ("to hell with wall street!") to snarky ("keep shopping, everything is fine!") to I-have-no-idea-how-it-relates ("this is 100% recycled material," "Oregon is killing its senior citizens").

The park smells funny and soon it will start to rain again.

On the up side, a friend was telling me that she was at her (behemoth) bank yesterday and witnessed several people closing their accounts. She then went to take care of some business at her local credit union and changed her mind because the line was out the door.

Baby steps.

Bank changes aside, I haven't quite figured out what actions I need to take in support of all of this. The homeless problem is rampant here and that seems like the obvious place to devote some free time... but this is Portland, where people line up months in advance for volunteer opportunities. And also I'm getting old and complacent so I may just resort to giving money to local shelters and other community-building establishments. I have been shopping and eating local like crazy the last few weeks though.

But whatever the outcome? Sorry, Oakland and Berkeley friends, but our protest has THE BEST acronym. Army with harmony!