Wednesday, October 3, 2007

October Blues

The cold weather is drawing nearer, faithful readers, but that will not deter our protesters from their unhappy destiny. In fact, it seems to make them more determined; but perhaps that is less about the cold than about October itself, a notoriously heavy month for anti-abortion activism. The month of the upcoming "Life Chain", of the National Pro Life Conference (this year being held in New Brunswick - lucky us!), and of the anniversary of the murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian (most Canadian abortion providers seem to get shot in November). What a happy month!

Oh well, we have fun. There were quite a few protesters out today, and they were quite aggressive, even during the early shift. The Holy Ghost was out first thing, which is unusual for her, and she made an attempt to talk to every single patient. It kept us very busy, and I was glad to have three escorts out back.

Crazy Legs came out a bit earlier than usual too, and since I received such a positive response to my descriptions of her dress sense, I will tell you, gentle readers, that she was wearing a fetching grey coat (with shoulder pads, of course) and black pants that were slightly too short for her. Excellent. Peter Ryan was also out doing his rounds, as was the brutish Earpiece Charlie.

The Tenor was in top form. He didn't sing (sadly) but he did make a remark (to me)about fooling all of the people some of the time. Implying, I suppose, that I like to fool women into having abortions. Would that I were so devious. Because obviously as a volunteer, I get commission for every woman that comes in. <--- sarcasm!

The excitement of the day was that the junior high behind us was having an emergency preparedness drill. The police were all out front of the school, so we couldn't see them, but it scared the crap out of two women (friends of a patient) who had come out to smoke when the school principal came over the loudspeaker and announced that the school was now in "lockdown". They didn't realize it was a drill. It turns out that they were a bit spooked anyway, as on the drive to Fredericton they had hit a bird, and almost hit a moose. Rough morning.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are one sick human being.

The Pedgehog said...

Thank you, gentle reader. Your one line of completely unfounded judgement has awakened me to my true self. Perhaps I shall now join the ranks of the righteous, like yourself, and spread good in the world through leaving nasty comments anonymously on people's blogs. Yes, that sounds like an excellent plan.

Amy O said...

hehehehe
an anonymous comment! So exciting.

Murple said...

Yes, you must be sick. Imagine wanting to help women when they are in need. Sick. I will join you in your quest to convert these diseased people by posting anonymous comments in blogs. Or I'll just stick out my tongue at random strangers on the street, displaying my disgust at the turn humanity has taken. Or I'll continue to read blogs that tell great stories while raising awareness of the abortion debate in Canada. Or I'll have a ciggarette and wish I had the courage to face those protesters every week and help women have access to vital health care.

Anonymous said...

Dear Pedghog....you are not 'one sick human being'...you are one of many. I myself would be classified as such by "anonymous" as would the majority of Canadians who clearly support a woman's right to safe and legal abortions. Keep up the good work.

E said...

Oh, and another thing I learned on Tuesday: we stand between the protesters and the patients walking in not because we want to stop the protesters from harassing the patients, but because we want to hide the foetus poster. Because the patients totally can't see the poster from across the street. Also, they've never seen an image of a foetus before. Because foetus images are magic -- any woman who sees one will be consumed by an overpowering desire to gestate one, whatever the costs.

Father Grim wished us "girls" a good week at the end of our shift. Is this a social thing for him?