Mark Richards Visits Occupy Wall Street in New York City

My son Mark & I along with Uncle Scott went to the city yesterday to attend university open houses. My son is looking forward to college life over the next few years. While strolling the streets of Manhattan, we discovered that the Wall Street protest was in fact mostly not on Wall Street but at Liberty Street & Broadway, in Liberty Square.

Yes there was a circus like atmosphere with music playing, people wearing strange outfits and folks calling out their message. One sign I read supported the governments desire to get people employed while another said "The Government did this to me" I saw a group of shoe shiners raising money and another group saying, "Don't give to the homeless here, it's taking away from the cause."

Another thing I noticed was that there were plenty of police nearby. What was odd was that they seemed to be protecting the protesters from me, rather that me from them.

So I sat down with some protesters who welcomed my questions. "How long have you been here?" "Since day one" they said. "Why are you here?"  "Because I was a teachers assistant and cuts in education eliminated my job", said a protester.  Another commented, "I've got a degree in Engineering and they're just not hiring." I asked cautiously "Wouldn't your time be better spent looking for a job?" She replied, "Been there, done that, right now my time is better spent being a revolutionary." With that I thanked them for their time and moved on.

Wow, what an experience. I can't help but wonder what they'll do next month when it gets really cold.

What question should I've asked them?