featured The only sane person on the block
Including me by the time this incident was over...
Some background here. In my nice little suburb of Bellevue, Nebraska there is an abortion clinic, the only one of it's type in a 300x500 mile area. It's been there since 1992. Diagonally across the street, facing it, the Christian elementary school has a gravestone monument that reads "In Memory of the Unborn Child". Nearby is a Woman's Touch Pregnancy Counseling Center, which basicly exists to provide everything you need should you choose not to have an abortion. In short, this forgotten corner is basicly the physical location of the abortion debate in eastern Nebraska.
About every other day there are protesters here. This is no real surprise to anyone. There's been protesters here for ages and besides, where else would they go? Unfortunately the protesters are carrying images that basicly count as asking for an obscenity charge in my mind. I couldn't take my kid to a film with these images, but there's at least 3 local schools in the area, so plenty of kids are driven past these signs on a daily basis.
Today, one of the protesters had a sign that didn't contain images of blood, gore, and dismembered parts of a human being. Finally! Something I can take a photo of. So I pull over and ask the gentleman if I can take his photo. He agrees, poses, and I shoot. Simple. no?
No. It's not simple. Now I have the way to my car barred by two people, one wearing enough protection from the cold that I couldn't identify him in a court of law even if I wanted to. They want to know my name. They want to know where I work. They're telling me that they're tired of people coming here, punching them, taking photographs of them, and punching holes in their tires.
I'm standing here holding a new digital camera thinking WTF? Like I want to get in a fight while holding something I haven't even sent in the rebate form yet. Let's think about this for a second. Two goons, one masked, both angry, blocking my way to my car, yelling at me because I took a photo of a person who agreed to have his photo taken.
This is insane. What started out as the only acceptable shot I've seen in weeks of someone still expressing freedom of speech is rapidly on it's way to becoming a call to 911 unless someone calms down and unfortunately I am rapidly losing my calm.
I think I can see their point of view. This is probably their life. They get paid to do this after all. Just like I got paid by the union when I carried a sign during a strike in what seems like a lifetime ago. They probably do get abused, yelled at, insulted, and heaven only knows what, for expressing their opinion in what might have once been a peaceful manner.
But this is insanity. The homeless guy two photos ago was more connected with consensual reality than these two people. I've walked through the worst parts of this city and never, until today, have I felt that I was going to be assualted any second now.
I make it to my car. There's a lot of yelling. And more yelling, and one of them takes a photo of me before I go with his cell phone (the same thing the other person complained people were doing to them). But it's over at least. I drive all of 15 feet, stop, and apologize to the man in the photo. This wasn't his fault. He had to deal with all of this just because he had the decency to let me take a photo of him.
I feel sorry for him in a way. He really is the only sane person on this block.
Some background here. In my nice little suburb of Bellevue, Nebraska there is an abortion clinic, the only one of it's type in a 300x500 mile area. It's been there since 1992. Diagonally across the street, facing it, the Christian elementary school has a gravestone monument that reads "In Memory of the Unborn Child". Nearby is a Woman's Touch Pregnancy Counseling Center, which basicly exists to provide everything you need should you choose not to have an abortion. In short, this forgotten corner is basicly the physical location of the abortion debate in eastern Nebraska.
About every other day there are protesters here. This is no real surprise to anyone. There's been protesters here for ages and besides, where else would they go? Unfortunately the protesters are carrying images that basicly count as asking for an obscenity charge in my mind. I couldn't take my kid to a film with these images, but there's at least 3 local schools in the area, so plenty of kids are driven past these signs on a daily basis.
Today, one of the protesters had a sign that didn't contain images of blood, gore, and dismembered parts of a human being. Finally! Something I can take a photo of. So I pull over and ask the gentleman if I can take his photo. He agrees, poses, and I shoot. Simple. no?
No. It's not simple. Now I have the way to my car barred by two people, one wearing enough protection from the cold that I couldn't identify him in a court of law even if I wanted to. They want to know my name. They want to know where I work. They're telling me that they're tired of people coming here, punching them, taking photographs of them, and punching holes in their tires.
I'm standing here holding a new digital camera thinking WTF? Like I want to get in a fight while holding something I haven't even sent in the rebate form yet. Let's think about this for a second. Two goons, one masked, both angry, blocking my way to my car, yelling at me because I took a photo of a person who agreed to have his photo taken.
This is insane. What started out as the only acceptable shot I've seen in weeks of someone still expressing freedom of speech is rapidly on it's way to becoming a call to 911 unless someone calms down and unfortunately I am rapidly losing my calm.
I think I can see their point of view. This is probably their life. They get paid to do this after all. Just like I got paid by the union when I carried a sign during a strike in what seems like a lifetime ago. They probably do get abused, yelled at, insulted, and heaven only knows what, for expressing their opinion in what might have once been a peaceful manner.
But this is insanity. The homeless guy two photos ago was more connected with consensual reality than these two people. I've walked through the worst parts of this city and never, until today, have I felt that I was going to be assualted any second now.
I make it to my car. There's a lot of yelling. And more yelling, and one of them takes a photo of me before I go with his cell phone (the same thing the other person complained people were doing to them). But it's over at least. I drive all of 15 feet, stop, and apologize to the man in the photo. This wasn't his fault. He had to deal with all of this just because he had the decency to let me take a photo of him.
I feel sorry for him in a way. He really is the only sane person on this block.
thanks for sharing the story.
love the picture too-- shows that one doesn't need to use violence (in images & real life) to counter the violence in this world