Protests and pissed off cops

This was a very interesting week in the Mission. I was there for the Day of Action on Thursday and took part in the march that lead from the 24th Street BART station to the 16th Street station. It was super awesome!
It made me both happy and sad to see how many people, from so many different cultures and age groups were affected by the cuts to education. I was really happy to see that so many people cared, but at the same time it sucked to see how many people are in the same shitty situation we all seem to be in. But hey, at least we’re united!
The coolest thing I saw was a little kid whom I found out was only 11 years old leading the protest at the 16th Street station. Him and three of his friends stood on top of a ragtag podium with a bullhorn and lead the giant crowd that encompassed the entire corner of Mission and 16th. It was one of the coolest things I saw all day, both in the Mission and at the super huge protest at Civic Center.
I tried to talk to a crowd of cops about what they expected to come from the protest and why they were they, but they all sucked. Of the group of around six or seven cops, only two would say anything at all and whenever they would answer it was limited to one or two words. A ten minute conversation with them provided the information that they were they to make sure nobody was hit by a car, and that they anticipated no violence.
The march at Civic Center was equally bodacious. I talked to a whole lot of people about how they felt about the situation and what they thought the protest would achieve and it was great to see such a diverse group of people with such similar ideas. I talked to a cop there who was really down to talk and gave me some great quotes like, “We put these assholes in office, and they fuck us every time.” Pretty much the greatest quote I will ever get from a cop in my life.
On my way back to Oakland I saw a guy walking out of Civic Center BART talking to himself, or more accurately yelling at nobody at all. His rambling caught my attention but the striking thing about him was that he was shooting what I’m guessing was meth into a grotesque abscess on his arm saying something like, “Fuck the pigs, look at me!” It was an eye opening experience, even for a person like me who grew up in a town where every other person is a tweaker.
No burritos this week but that’s okay. I found a thrift shop on Mission with the largest selection of lucha libre masks and capes I’ve seen in my short life. This is useful information to a guy who grew up obsessed with Ray Mysterio Jr. and the Ultimo Dragon. I only buy produce from the Mish now and I feel like a life spent buying mangos from Safeway was a life wasted.
Damn the man, viva la Mision!