Hands (& Asses!) Across The Sand June 26, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Nature, People, Sustainable Living.trackback
Hundreds of protesters headed to Manatee County public beach today for Hands Across The Sand. At noon, a 15 minute demonstration took place to say “NO” to offshore drilling and “YES” to Clean Energy and clean beaches.
For a complete story: Bradenton.com
What struck me . . . hundreds of people drove to the beach today, wrestling with coolers and kids, to find a place in the white sand where they could enjoy the tropical sun and turquoise surf.
Hundreds of people set up barbeques, and chairs, and tents, and beach umbrellas, and weighty coolers, to make the most of their day at the beach.
But once they plopped their big bathing-suit-clad behinds on beach towels and beach chairs to enjoy the pristine sand and water (as yet unmarred by tar feathered friends and gooey tar balls), they sat idle and watched as hundreds of concerned citizens marched down to water’s edge to join hands in unified support of clean energy and clean beaches.
Waved over to join us, the beached whales stared back, blank expressions on dim-witted faces. They didn’t even stand up.
Hmm . . . if avid beach-goers don’t willingly stand up for clean energy and clean beaches, where are they going to park their fat asses down the road?
Related stories: Hands Across The Sand (NY Times) * Hands Across The Sand (CNN Coverage) * The Oil Spill At Grand Isle
Spirit Lights The Way 
I can’t believe we’re not making a greater effort to get off oil. How much destruction of our planet will it take to convince us? The human race needs to understand that while the earth doesn’t need us, we desperately need the earth. Let’s stop abusing it.
Right on!
As pleased as I was with the event as a whole, the apathy of the people sitting right there on the beach just blew my mind.
What? You can’t stand up and walk 5 feet away from your coolers of food for 5 minutes???
Disheartening.
No wonder politicians in Washington know that they can do whatever they want to do . . . with the apathetic masses just sticking their heads in the sands like so many ostriches.
Quite ironic, maybe it should have been a Big Walk instead, boycott cars for the day.
Sad apathy.
Apathy and inertia ~ a beached whale at rest stays at rest. : )
I’m not saying that people should have driven 2 hours each way to the beach for a 15 minute protest against off shore drilling ~ that would be rather counter productive. : )
But when you’re already there and it would require virtually no investment of time or energy . . . why would you not even stand up?