Fly away, war - updated

I've done it again - jumped right to the most violent, agressive reaction while failing to mention standing on the street corner for almost 93 minutes before receiving one negative reaction to our vigil! In fact, sometimes every single car that goes by or that is waiting at the light, responds with waves, peace signs, deep sighs of gratitude, determined fists, shouts of 'yes' & 'right-on'.

We stand in the medium on Pennsylvania Ave, a very busy thorough-far that is about 6 lanes of traffic going both directions. 93 minutes pass before we get one single finger - actually we get two fingers in the last 13 minutes, both from middle-aged white males driving late model pick-up trucks. And this woman.

“Fuck you” An angry, middle-aged white woman has pulled her late model sedan over to the side of the road to scream at me as I stand with a sign that says: “6 more U.S. soldiers dead today” and “2 women & one almost-born child murdered by U.S. soldiers today”.

I approach her extended middle finger hanging over her cream-colored leather seats as her tinted window slowly lowers. I invite her to pull over & have a conversation with me in between her vacillating between screaming ‘fuck you’ and ‘bitch’ and ‘ugly slob’.

“You’re emboldening the enemy” she yells at me. “Oh really?" I querry. "How's that?” “You just are, by standing here not supporting our troops”.

“I’m ending war, killing, bombing” I counter. “I’m bringing our troops home now – that is the only way to support them” I state unequivocally. Later I think I should have said “Bush & warmongers are my enemy – and I’m undermining them”.

I keep trying to get her to get out the car, talk with me. She thinks she’s coming up with more & more hurtful things to say as she attacks my clothes, my weight, my single status (like she knows me). She shouts with some inner victorious streak that she has a husband! I guess she sees that as a major accomplishment of her life!

I tell her we are women, we are capable of talking with each other. She tells me she wants to murder me if she could. I ask what she means, if she could. She repeats her vehement desire to murder me if only she could. I ask her why she can’t? I invite her to go ahead, murder me. Then what?

She has worn herself out calling me names, wanting to murder me – I keep pointing to a parking place across the street & telling her to park. I tell her I am not her enemy, I am committed to ending war. I keep repeating war is wrong, killing is wrong as she tries to drive off in a cloud-less puff of smoke-less squeal.

The six year old, Hillary’s daughter who is staying with us now in her house, has painstakingly designed & decorated the sign she now holds up to this woman: “Fly away war”