[Peace-discuss] Tires Plus: Expect meanness, respond with kindness or disengagement

[Joan Nelshoppen]

I'm not sure that anyone was targeted.  My minivan looks a lot like the one 
they were trying to tow and they initially thought that the woman with two 
small kids (me) was the one parked there.

I agree with what everyone is saying about responding with kindness.  I 
believe it is really important that protestors for peace act in a 
nonviolent manner.

Please do not publicly target the tire place for a boycott.  That will not 
win anyone over.

Also - would it be useful to reexamine some of the new signs?  Although 
things like "Bomb Texas" may make a few protestors laugh I think signs like 
that do more harm then good and are not perceived well by people you might 
be trying to get to join you.  I didn't get a chance to look at all the 
signs as I was driving over to protest on Saturday (I was just totally 
amazed and proud at the number of people) so I don't know if it was still 
out there.  But if I had seen that one I would have been offended.  (I 
should mention I am someone who totally opposes this war.) Incidentally, 
that sign made the News Gazette and not in a flattering light.

Joan





At 01:34 PM 2/17/03 -0600, Carol Inskeep wrote:
>my two cents:
>
>- very hostile folks are intentionally trying to provoke us, get us off
>track and intimidate others from joining us.  it's in our best interest to
>minimize conflicts with passer-by and tires plus and keep the focus on
>winning over the many sympathetic people we come in contact with.  i also
>think we don't want to send off alarms for business owners out on prospect
>by starting a boycott.  explicitly warning people that tires plus is
>hostile and we shouldn't park there is probably enough.
>
>- i think it'd be great to have a working group of folks who help us
>define what we're aiming for in our own behavior and orientation while
>protesting, particularly with regard to those who are hostile.  is anyone
>interested in coordinating it?
>
>- i think it'd be a good idea to try to get some log of "incident reports"
>for any violent things that happen - a basic thing that would describe the
>incident, give relevant info (license numbers), and contact info for those
>who saw/were involved in the incident.  these might help us if anything
>escalates in order to show a pattern of behavior.
>
>and in general i'll just say the protests are really going well; the
>location is marvelous for its high visibility and familiarity; and new
>people are finding us every week.  we're on the right track...
>
>carol
>
>
>
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