My Puzzling Encounter with the Least Effective Protest of All Time.

On a sunny day in Nashville, eight dedicated protestors marched the downtown streets in what was either a slightly noisy effort to enjoy the weather or the worst protest of all time.

The protest consisted of, by my count, a total of eight people.  It was the world's first protest that could double as a supper club.

To their credit, the group appeared to be a diverse group of races, socio-economic backgrounds, ages and physical abilities.  To their detriment, these facts tend to imply that the protestors weren't a group of friends who decided to take a day off and march the streets, but the only eight people on earth who responded to whatever publicity there was asking people to show up and do this thing. 

I inadvertenly came upon the protest while walking somewhere else during my lunch break.  I almost found myself in the middle of it before I even knew it was there.  When I got close enough to the protest to hear it (which was harder than one might think), the world's softest protest chant went something like this:

(Leader): What do we want?
(Group): Jobs!
(Leader): When do we want them?
(Group): Now!

It repeated like this for as long as I was within earshot, with the group rotating the leader role among them.  It took at least 45 seconds for everyone to get a turn. 

But then they turned a corner and I couldn't hear them anymore.

So, if a protest is organized on the streets of downtown Nashville and no one can hear it loudly enough to get annoyed, does it still make a sound?  (In this case, the answer is "not if a motorcycle is passing by.")

Don't get me wrong.  Other than the fact I enjoy being employed, I have no opinion on whatever it was they were protesting.  But no matter the merits of the cause (and we'll get to that later), here's a Protesting 101 tip: if you only have 8 people show up for your protest, it's better to just cancel it. 

If you don't stage a protest, people have no idea how many silent voices out there might agree with your cause.  But if you go to the trouble of organizing an event, advertising it, and getting a permit, and still have only eight people show up, you cast the distinct impression that only 8 people on earth identify with your cause.

Whatever it actually was.

The whole event raised a number of questions.  Foremost, are there really people out there against jobs?  People who think jobs are a bad idea?  Or are there people who think that jobs are ok, but would prefer them to come "later" rather than "now"?

If so, they were certainly put in their place yesterday.  (As long as that place was within 20 feet of the protest, and no one's phone was ringing.)

Still, I can't help but wonder if the eight protestors really sought employment, wouldn't they be better served polishing up their resumes on their home computer instead of marching aimlessly around downtown?  Do they think someone out there has a magic button they can press that will suddenly deliver jobs?  But has anyone, in the history of time, ever protested their way into employment?

Perhaps these unanswered questions provide some clues as to why the protest was not better attended.

I like the spirit of this lost cause, even if it didn't make a lot of sense.  Still, I almost wanted to go up to the group and ask if any of them were interested in doing some handyman work around the house.  Part of me wanted to be part of the solution.  A bigger part of me was hoping that one of them would accept my offer but ask to come over after the protest, which would put the protestor squarely at odds with the prior claim of wanting jobs "now."

I'm not quite sure who this protest was aimed at anyway.  They didn't camp in front of a government building.  They weren't trying to influence a government decision maker of any sort.  They just walked around a commercial section of downtown. 

Were they hoping some employer would happen upon them and immediately offer them all work?  Did they simply want Nashville's downtown workforce, as finished their cushy lunch breaks and headed back to their air conditioned offices, to know that there exists an impoverished underbelly of eight people not able to enjoy such comforts.

It's a sobering thought. 

I don't know if these people had any connection to the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, or even what that movement stands for, so don't take this as a political statement. 

My point is just that I don't see what these people were trying to say. 

In fact, I could barely even hear it.