My brief and somewhat unpleasant experience w/OWS Oakland, Wed Nov 2nd:

Well…on Wednesday I was very tired. Didn’t sleep well on Tuesday and in order to make sure I didn’t fall asleep on BART whilst heading home, I had to quaff a couple pints of coffee to be safe.

So I arrive at 12th St City Center, downtown Oakland, literally in a daze, buzzed on caffeine but not really “there” (yes, I’m hinting at the whole there “there” thing but anyway, *ahem*). I walked into the far too bright sunlight and found myself standing in a crowd of somewhat serious and obviously stoned people, with a woman on a bullhorn trying to gather people to march forward. Yes, I literally walked right into the path of a march.

I got out of the way immediately, and attempted to find my bearings. This thought process was immediately interrupted by some guy, literally getting in my face and saying, “yos, whys you here? yous some buisness man come to check on us?”

I wasn’t dressed in a suit. I had jeans on, with a button up, dress shirt tucked in with a belt with a fedora atop my head. My bag was strapped across my front and I was holding one of those travel coffee mugs. I think I looked more like a software engineer than a businessman, but whatever.

Suffice to say I didn’t respond. I looked at him and his friends who were laughing at me, and I turned around and left. I remember seeing a “Palestinian” flag, a few anti-capitalist signs, and numerous references to Oscar Grant.

That isn’t my crowd and really, I want nothing to do with it. While I think they have legitimate grievances, I don’t see this movement going anywhere fast.