My wife and I attended March For Our Lives in DC this past Saturday.
It was exciting, moving, exhilarating, powerful, exhausting and a thousand other adjectives.
Apparently A LOT of teachers attend these marches. I kept getting high fives for my sign and people stopped me to take photos and ask if I was a teacher (My parents were. It’s not genetic).
One group of teachers even asked if they could have their photo taken with me.
I knew several people who attended. We randomly ran into one , but it would have been impossible to find any others even though I later learned some were standing just a few feet away.
It’s weird to think that there were friends I had not seen since high school just a couple hundred feet from me but I couldn’t see them.
If you have never been to a march like this one, seriously attend. If you are physically able to go, please go. Yes, it’s claustrophobic; yes, you have to stand for hours; yes, it’s emotionally overwhelming but it’s worth it. If I can handle the crowd, you can handle the crowd.
This march and the 2017 Women’s March were unbelievably cramped but everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was polite. No one lost their temper. No one shoved or started a fight.
There’s nothing quite like being in a massive crowd of polite people.
All of the speakers were fantastic. They were all focused and well-spoken. I know a lot of the media are painting them as ignorant kids who want to sneak into your homes and steal your hunting rifles, but that is not the case.
Even if you are a life-long conservative, even if you are a gun owner, seriously consider taking part in one of these marches. My favorite signs were ones that read “Republicans for Gun Control!” or “Hunters for Gun Control!” I wish I had gotten my phone out in time to take a photo of these.
Yes I’m a liberal. Yes a lot of us who attended are liberals. But this isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a life vs. death issue.
Also, don’t make the same mistake I made during the Women’s March, write a message on BOTH sides of your sign.
