This is the first time in forever that I wrote an entry from my actual computer. Taking a bit of a day off today, was meant to go to Yum Cha but I have no monies, so very poor. So on Saturday I was up early and was at the West End markets by 9am, strolled my way down not knowing exactly where the Amnesty stall was going to be. Past the old man playing the synthesizer and the man with a chicken on his head selling eggs more enthusiastically then a person should sell eggs. Tried to keep clear of the foul (not fowl) smelling fishmongers where Carmen bought her tuna head last week, on that front Carmen apparently turned it into a delicious broth. Think I'm being squeamish? Perhaps, but you didn't have to carry the bloody thing around did you and I mean quite literally bloody...
Saw the familiar yellow and black colours of Amnesty's famous brand, we had a nice spot in the shade between a honey vendor and a florist. Our presence didn't seem to hinder their sales despite all the people trying not to give us eye contact. I'm not angry about that, a lot of people would have assumed we were trying to get people to sign up for monthly direct-debits. I've certainly been guilty of averting my eyes and walking fast. I made sure to announce that we were not looking for money at which point someone would usually stop and go 'oh okay, well what's going on here then.' Brilliant! We actually did really well, I can't tell you exactly how many signatures we raised but if I had to make an estimate...my brain is saying somewhere between 200-250 altogether. But that might be a bit optimistic... No it probably was about that and since Queensland's aim is to get 2000 in the next nine days that's over 10%. Something to be proud of.
I took a lot of positives from the day, one being that a lot of people seemed to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject of the latest refugee plight, only a few people said that they were in favour of the Malaysia plan, one woman going so far as to say we bomb the lot of them. Yeah... You can't win them all and I certainly wasn't aiming for that. We do live in a democracy after all, people are permitted to have their insane opinions. I was there for about five hours all up and the time just flew by. Eliza dropped by at one point so I took a short break to walk with her and grab a drink. I just started raving about how satisfying I found the whole thing, I was on a bit of a buzz at that time you have to understand. I've known for the last couple of years that activism would be my passion once I actually became brave enough to attempt it. I was right, I love being around like minded people and having discussions, I love meeting other people that feel the same too. I love the process of organizing these things, I love feeling a part of something bigger and that my direct involvement is making a difference. If I hadn't been there yesterday maybe we wouldn't have had as many signatures, that's a direct impact.
Slept pretty hard today though, this is really preparing me for going back to work when that inevitably happens. Thank you to Noemie, Tracy, Teri and Colin for their hard work yesterday and to all the other activists around the world right now making a difference. I think I'm in the right mind frame to get back into activist blogging again, so don't be surprised if at some point in the next few weeks there's a new blog at anhaidao.com, probably going to use the Casual Activism title again. This time I'm going to let it live up to its name instead of trying to be a net hub for all things activism related like last time. Just a few entries a week about things that are going on and a few tips about getting more involved. I just hope my social life isn't going to be too affected, I haven't really heard or properly spoken to anyone since last Saturday, except for those at Amnesty. Hmm...will keep an eye on that. Then again everyone is very busy at the moment, so it's not too surprising. All right well I'm going to go and contemplate putting together that new blog, do some planning and also just chill out. Got another full day at Amnesty tomorrow and will also be getting some advice from Break Thru about what to do with my certificate. I'm hoping they can introduce me to someone that knows MYOB really well and can just tutor me in it. Excellent, well enjoy yourselves.
Andy Scott
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