Lack of trouble at the women's march

[Anonymous]

(Please, in order to keep this here, lets avoid discussing national politics and related issues, and keep this to safety, logistics etc)

Last week people were posting here saying there would be trouble at the Womens March. That there would be violence. That it would be dangerous to have kids there. That it would be hard to keep groups together, etc.

I went. AFAICT there was zero violence, and zero arrests. People were more polite than I usually see in DC. Despite the crowding.

I did hear announcements of lost people, but they seemed to get reunited quickly.

Cell service was less than perfect, but far better than I expected. So it should not have been difficult to reconnect via cell phone.

All in all it was even better than I thought it would be (in terms of safety and logistics) and I was one of the optimists.

[Anonymous]

I was someone who was really worried about safety but I went anyway and I am proud to say I was dead wrong and it was kind, peaceful, supportive and totally free from any hatred or violence or anger toward one another.

[Anonymous]

That was good news. I have to admit that I was downtown on Friday and found the protesters behavior scary enough that it kept me from the women's march.

[Anonymous]

I didn't anticipate any issues at all, and there in fact, were zero issues. Everything was completely peaceful and I saw so many occasions of strangers helping strangers - it was great!

I think the scared or worried people fell into a few camps.
- Conservatives trying to dissuade people from going to keep numbers down
- People who generally live a life of fear, don't go into the city, and don't like to venture out and try new things.
- People who aren't as supportive of issues as they say they or pretend they are.

I know some people didn't go because of work conflicts, or because of issues with crowds - and I get that. But I'm specifically talking about those who expressed unwarranted concerns and worries.

[Anonymous]

I was one of the foreigners who posted here voicing safety concerns about the March, given my previous experience in other countries.

I went, and was DELIGHTED to be completely wrong!

However, my cell phone didn't work at all, and neither did my friends', so you must have had a magic phone

[Anonymous]

If only women ruled the world...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If only women ruled the world...

I know, right? Not only how peaceful it was, but how prepared everybody was. Clear backpacks. Signs. Hats that had to be knitted. Songs that had to be rehearsed. So many people had brought their own toilet paper for the portapotties. Just awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was scared that the bikers and/or crazy gun-totting Trumpers would be out in full force. I think they saw the crowds and ran their chicken-shit butts back into the hills!

Those weren't Clinton supporters.
http://dcist.com/2017/01/black_bloc_explainer.php

[Anonymous]

I didn't expect any issues, except lack of cell service and huge crowds. Op most attendees had zero cell service for hours.

[Anonymous]

I was glad that the march was so calm, but disappointed that so much attention went to the people smashing windows on Friday and people marching on Saturday, and so little to the protesters who engaged in civil disobedience at the inauguration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If only women ruled the world...

x100 OP, majority of women are not violent, and certainly the ones who go in support of women's issues wouldn't be the violent kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If only women ruled the world...

I know, right? Not only how peaceful it was, but how prepared everybody was. Clear backpacks. Signs. Hats that had to be knitted. Songs that had to be rehearsed. So many people had brought their own toilet paper for the portapotties. Just awesome.

lol. This is just normal, everyday, life, though. I'm the one who packs all the "what ifs" and "just in cases" (mostly things for the kids) when we go on long trips. DH just goes out the door with no thought to anything but the shirt on his back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I was one of the foreigners who posted here voicing safety concerns about the March, given my previous experience in other countries.

I went, and was DELIGHTED to be completely wrong!

However, my cell phone didn't work at all, and neither did my friends', so you must have had a magic phone

It varied. Near L'Enfant I couldn't get service, but by the time I got to Independence and 14th, I did. It was still slow uploading photos. Texts came in fine though. I think Verizon had some temporary towers? Maybe it depended on which carrier you had?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If only women ruled the world...

I know, right? Not only how peaceful it was, but how prepared everybody was. Clear backpacks. Signs. Hats that had to be knitted. Songs that had to be rehearsed. So many people had brought their own toilet paper for the portapotties. Just awesome.

And probably food prepared in the fridges at home for the family members they left behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If only women ruled the world...

I know, right? Not only how peaceful it was, but how prepared everybody was. Clear backpacks. Signs. Hats that had to be knitted. Songs that had to be rehearsed. So many people had brought their own toilet paper for the portapotties. Just awesome.

lol totally. ladies get things ready!