No Age Discrimination Here!

Or….to march or not to march ..that is the question!

First of all I couldn’t decide if I should or even could  walk and secondly, I couldn’t  decide if I should write about it on my post…then I decided. Yes, I would march and yes, I would write about it to all of you.    But let me say first, this is not a political statement, it is just about the time I had walking thru midtown surrounded and packed in by women, men and children of all ages and description. Here’s my story about joining the Women’s March on Saturday.

I started out from my apt at 1:00.  I planned to take a city  bus  to as close to the starting point as possible.   I sat on the bench patiently waiting with my pink plaid hat on my  head. Others joined me, including a man who wasn’t marching just needed the bus to get him downtown.   He didn’t know about the March and wanted to know what  it was all about. After I told him he asked,  “Do you think these demonstrations do any good?”  “I do.” I said. ” Give me an example of one that worked?” inquisitive guy bluntly asked.   ” Well,  I will  speak to one of  the marches that I’ve been in.” I told him  how we were able to help  stop the nuclear power plant from being built at Shoreham LI without any workable escape routes, many years ago.”  “Really” he said, wide-eyed.  ” Keep up the good work.”   It  was about then that  we all realized the bus wasn’t coming so quickly… so we started to walk. I bid my cheerleader  goodbye and was off.

Now, as you probably know, midtown Manhattan is a series of rectangles.  The March started on 2nd Avenue  at 47th down to  42nd Street  and then over to Fifth and north to 55th, very direct easy route.

However, by the time I reached 48th  Street the crowds were so dense, I couldn’t move. I said to myself, “Self, this isn’t working.” I’m going to head over to Fifth and join the march there.  I made a hard  right turn and walked with families with strollers, people in wheelchairs,on  bikes,on  scooters winding our way across town to meet up with our fellow marchers.

After about an hour of very slow movement,  I was trapped  between Madison and Fifth. Slowly and I mean slowly we moved.  I’m not a tall person, in fact I’m short, so often in crowds I have trouble seeing what’s ahead.  At one point, I was chewing on disgusting  fur on the back of a  tall woman’s hoodie. Yuck. OK, time to take control. I moved away from  whatever that smelly fur was  and slid between people to get to my target area. After about another 30 minutes, I made it.   I was walking up Fifth with all the  signs, horns, clapping, yelling, periodically loud yelling, and surrounded by the masses.   Exciting

It was about on 53rd Street and around 3:30 that I decided it might be time for me to head home. I knew it would take me at least an hour to walk back.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a  march but it  can get very tight especially  when barricades are up like in the City to control the crowds.  To  get out I had to wait until we got to an intersection that was open.  Then I had to think of the best plan  to get out of the throngs to the open sidewalk on the other side of 5th.  Hmmmm, I thought and then I knew.

And without any shame,  I used my very  advanced age as a ticket to get out of the crush by saying, “Excuse, please, elderly crossing.” “Excuse, please, elderly crossing.”  And the people parted…..with big smiles opening a  path for me to cross the absolutely packed avenue.      “Thank you, thank you,” I yelled and waved.  Now that’s power, I thought!

I  came home very satisfied that I made my stand with women, men and children across America  and across the world  for equality and respect for everyone. I poured a glass of wine, took off my shoes, plopped down on the couch and as I  turned on the TV I said, “Thanks knees you did great!”

KAY’S NOTES:

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do”

 Image result for eleanor roosevelt


Author: Kay

I knew when I started my blog I wanted to reach out to seniors like myself. I wanted to share my stories and even be a bit of a tour guide on what I’ve learned and the fun I’ve had at famous and not so famous New York places.

4 thoughts on “No Age Discrimination Here!”

  1. Love your post. We walked in charlotte, and my son and his wife walked in d.c. When I saw the photos from all the various cities around the world, I saw that we all looked alike. A mix of men, women, children from every ethic group and walk of life. As I looked at the people here in charlotte, I could have been in London, New York, Seattle or Atlanta…and I wondered about the people in small little towns who were also walking. We came away thinking let’s stay involved every day in any way we can. Thanks, Kay!

  2. Sounds like the most perfect March
    Every person counted. And your voice joined with the others
    The perfect Margaret Meade quote should be here
    I owe you
    So happy you went

  3. Thanks Kay for sharing this. My hat is off to you. I was with the marchers in spirit but sadly not in body. I will try your “elderly crossing” to see if it works.
    Keep writing. I am a loyal fan!
    Marge