[Peace-discuss] lowe's etc: an alternative perspective

[Linda Evans]

Peter,

Thanks for your perspective.  I totally agree with all
of your points.

In the short time I spent in the parking lot, I had
one police officer say thank you (2 other occasions
police thanked me and the 'security group' for our
efforts) for redirecting people to other lots.  I
think it would be really nice to send a letter to the
police to say we've had a very positive experience
with the Champaign police department.

I understand why people are upset with Lowe's.  I
talked to the manager before (on the phone) and after
the protest (in person).  On the phone, the manager
was sort of angry, but talking in person he said that
he didn't mind the parking until the crowds got in the
hundreds.  Although, I don't know how much this really
impacts his business, it could and he does have a
valid concern.  He has no idea how many people are
going to show up and park in his lot.  I really think
we should discuss this more before the petition is
sent.  He did seem pretty 'even handed' in wanting
only shoppers to park in the Lowe's lot.

Thank you so much Peter (and John) for redirecting
parkers to other lots.  I thought it was interesting
when the police officer came up and thanked you and
said 'I know standing in the parking lot isn't as much
fun and being with the group protesting, thanks for
doing it.'.  He was seriously grateful for your
efforts.  

There were some really positive interchanges yesterday
between people (police and protesters/pro-war and
anti-war people) which I'm sure we'll talk about
tonight.

Linda
--- Peter Rohloff <rohloff at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> 
> Howdy all. I was the member of the P4P 'security' on
> parking lot 
> detail, and here are my observations:
> 
> 1. In a space of two hours, I redirected around 100
> cars. This is a lot 
> of cars, and would definitely have impacted Lowe's
> parking. I think the 
> management has a point.
> 
> 2. Before we all get our persecution complexes up, 
> my observation was 
> that the Lowe's employees who were assigned to
> 'towing' were equally 
> targeting pro- and anti-war parkers. I think the
> manager himself had a 
> pro-war bias, but this did not appear true of the
> employees who were 
> actually doing the spotting.
> 
> 3. I was non-partisan in my activities, and I
> redirected nearly as many 
> pro-war as anti-war demonstrators. Both  the police
> and the Lowe's 
> people noticed this, and the police in particular
> made a point to  
> thank us for our help and cooperation. I think
> building up this kind of 
> currency when possible is a good thing, since we
> peaceniks usually seem 
> to be on the police's bad side. I was disappointed
> to see a few folks 
> specifically targeting the police with angry
> comments.
> 
> 4. In general, the pro-war people that I re-directed
> were much more 
> understanding than the anti-war people, and much
> less likely to accost 
> the Lowe's employees with angry comments. Giving the
> Lowe's manager a 
> piece of one's mind was probably appropriate, but I
> started to feel 
> sorry for the peons who were taking the brunt of the
> anger.
> 
> 5. I had a lengthy conversation with the police
> about parking 
> alternatives and, although they were reluctant to
> give official 
> 'suggestions', they let it be known that the old
> Best Buy on the 
> frontage road is vacant. Perhaps we should
> investigate this as an 
> alternative? I'm not sure how far the walk is, but
> is can't be any more 
> distant than Borders, which is where many people
> parked.
> 
> Now the standard disclaimer: Just my $0.02. :-)
> 
> In peace, Peter
> 
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