Friday, June 20, 2008

Holler Like It's 1968!

I was standing in the shade of the small oak tree outside of our office building today, having a smoke for the road, when, at 4:45 pm, my attention was attracted to a band of hooligans on the corner. They carried signs identifying themselves as members of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society - Lord! Is that still around?), and were trying to block the street. Counting the butt cheeks and dividing by two - if you catch my drift - I estimated that there were 30 protesters. A handful of policemen were attempting to usher them onto the sidewalk, and showed remarkable restraint under severe provocation. I was amused by the antics of the apparent ringleader of this group of misfits - a scrawny specimen with shaggy black hair and an Assyrian beard - because I noticed that the vociferousness and vulgarity of his taunts varied in inverse proportion to his propinquity to the physical presence of the policemen. In any event, they ultimately moved on, but I missed the best part. An acquaintance of mine, who had watched the spectacle from his window, told me later that the crowd grew disorderly again, and that the police beat the crap out of a couple of the more obnoxious scofflaws. I am sorry to have missed that part, but I do rather hope that it was the Assyrian who got his clock cleaned.

7 comments:

RebeccaH said...

SDS?!? Shades of 1968!

I join you in your wish for a sound thrashing of the miscreants and scoundrels, particularly the Levantinish hirsute one.

You'd think we never turned the corner on the third millenium.

Minicapt said...

"The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, ..."
'The Destruction of Sennacherib', Byron, 1815

Were his locks not properly oiled?

Cheers
JMH

mythusmage said...

There is nothing like self-inflicted pain to teach a child prudence.

missred said...

damn, paco, you get all the fun in your end of DC!

Paco said...

Miss Red: I think it's probably the proximity of my office building to the White House; lighting rod, lightning, so to speak.

Anonymous said...

I used to watch some really entertaining protests when I worked in the Chicago Loop, lo these many years ago. And that was well past 1968!

missred said...

and bless you for it, paco. i like the "quiet" west end