After the March

This is from my diary but its all about the march. It has taken  my attention the last few days

Jan 21
Went down to join the march but couldn't get in to Grosvenor square, where the American Embassy was. It was huge it snaked my way through Mayfair and joined March near St James Square. Trafalgar Square was full, cut through National Gallery from Sainsbury wing, After a time of feeling with the march, my physical condition was getting the better of me -my legs were getting tired, I was losing balance and moving slowly. I had not run into anyone I know to bouy my energy and wanted to get out of the crowd so I cut through Gallery, Leicester sq, Soho and walked home. I stopped off at the cafe on Baker St had a brief chat with the waitress ' How are you?' She asked 'tired' I said 'I've just been on a march in the centre of town' ' but it's cold' she said 'What was it for? ' ' against Trump US president'  I said . ' But it's cold' she repeated as if to say, 'and you went out in the cold for that? Why?' Ooh the microclimates and filters in this big city. But the seat, the rest and the coffee was oh so welcome.


Jan 22
Looking at twitter feed, news and FB in aftermath of Women's March and Inauguration is making me ill -It takes my attention into a realm that I really can't do anything about- the Trump side is really going for mainstream media refuting accurate news, accusing them of bias. And I have chosen not to be involved in the world. Words are being devalued, images are being devalued - photos of huge empty spaces at the inauguration 'have been photoshopped and manipulated' to propagate the lie that 'the biggest ever crowd saw Trump being sworn in'.
John Pilger, on New Matilda website writes that "they've got it all wrong, Obama not Trump is the problem". Weird to see Pilger ( a crusading outsider journalist, but always until now, definitely an outsider) becoming an apologist for Trump and establishment- I think he's wrong -Trump, and the people behind him is who we have to deal with, Obama is gone.
I watched the new  Press Secretary Spicer telling the press that it was the biggest crowd ever for an inaugaration and then telling them they were biased against poor li'l ol' Donald.
Wow there is alot of fear spreading and false info. Argument seems to polarise, discussion brings together-drawing attention to onto possible common ground. Its drawing attention towards peace.
It really does make me sick plugging into all this trump biz and it's all a distraction from doing accounts which really shouldn't be hard. And I have £100 until I start living off my credit card and I have to check my HB is being paid and reclaim health costs, see that parents are OK and I want to go Laurie s memorial next week, raise money to do website and its Nicola's 60th birthday tomorrow she retires this week and I am going blithely on as if nothing is urgent but the world is changing and every country is more than its government.

Jan23
After the march,  I received many favourable responses but there were two questioning responses, one from a man one from a woman, from different sides of the gender divide; she: 'that must have been so hard for you'  he: 'I feel sorry for you, being taken advantage of by misandrists'.  Different sides, but my  reality of being in the march was so  different from what they thought it was going to be.  The gender issue did not seem  important to me - there were a lot of blokes on March (mostly partners or looking after kids, mostly 'attached' in someway. Not many loners like myself but I did not feel out of place. I felt more invisible than unwelcome. There was a shared sense of purpose amongst the crowd.  Other marches in different places may have had a more exclude-males agenda but I did not feel it here. Yes there were a lot of angry women, but loud aggressive polarisers were a small minority, it felt most of the anger  was anti-Trump rather than anti-male. I know that I was moved to take part because of Trump the way the US is going and myt friends there. Yes the march was instigated by women and that threatens many men and pushes them back on an older male stance. But argument polarises;  pushes men to trad positions, pushes women into misandry, men into misogyny; dialogue moves forward.