So there is a protest at work today and I can't help think to myself, don't they have anything better to do? I guess not.

If you haven't ever been protested by environmentalists, I recommend it. There is nothing quite so liberating as walking past a crowd who detests you for going to work. Most of the bigger companies will send out notifications on how to handle the protestors, and which entrances to use. Here in Houston we have a tunnel system so only those people who didn’t check their email don’t know how to come to work. The smart protestors wrap it up before lunch otherwise, employees tend to go outside and watch them while they eat. This can be demoralizing for those who have been out in the sun for several hours yelling and working up an appetite. Sometimes they even join in with signs like, “I am here for the chicks.”

One of the first times I was protested, I decided to go mingle and ask what they are so mad about. I was talking to a guy in the back, and he fed me some line about oil companies and the environment. I asked why is he so mad that he had to come down and yell chants. He told me that he wasn’t mad and that he was paid to be here. Hello, come again? Yeah, he does a few protests a month for drinking money. Basically the true crazies call him and others as filler. They give him slogans to use on the signs, and if they are really well financially backed they get t-shirts.

I started to see these demonstrations a little differently that day. For one, you start to wonder how they got to the protest. There aren’t any bikes lying around. So they all drove to downtown Houston, in rush hour, expending fuel to protest the oil companies. Maybe they all sent emails on their MacBook to coordinate a ride in one Prius (both of which are made of plastic derived from petroleum), but I have asked this point and alas they don’t. Evidently they don’t validate parking either.

Another thing, you notice is how really small they are. There are rarely more than 50 people, but in the news it always looks like so many more. Today, there are more cops than protestors. Cops from the city to keep order and sheriffs rented by the company to guard entrances are all over the place. You would think with a horrible disaster in the gulf they might be able to garner a larger crowd. You would be wrong, most likely because if you really gave a crap (and had free time) you would be 3 hours to our East in Louisiana volunteering right now. That is where I wish I was, doing something rather than bitching about it.