The Young Turks

It was a solo day for me, but the weather was beautiful and the passers-by were positive. I passed the time smiling to people and playing with my new iPhone. I discovered that I could log into TreatAnySoldier.com and send a care package to some soldiers in Iraq.

I was a little uncomfortable being there on my own, but I was watching everyone walk by and realizing just how out of touch we are with what's going on in Iraq. I'm thinking... so I'm a little uncomfortable and self-conscious... big deal. No-one's shooting at me and I don't have watch for IEDs when I walked back to my car. I have it easy.

About halfway through my vigil, I was joined by two  young women who kept me company for a while. I love the fact that people want to join in for a bit as they walk by.

The woman on the right told me a story about when she was 13 and was ejected from a Bush rally because she wouldn't bow her head in prayer. She saw me out there by myself while she was across the street eating lunch, and interrupted her meal to come and offer me a smoke. I don't smoke, but I did appreciate the sentiment. After finishing their lunch, the rest of the group she was with came by and hung out with me for bit. One of them was from Latvia and was really glad to see someone in the U.S. protesting the war. He told me how much the rest of the world is against what's going on there. I told him that there were plenty of people here in the U.S. who thought the same.