I managed it !
I attended the coffee morning wearing a placard round my neck saying I wasn't speaking as I had been sponsored to be silent for 24 hours ... and later on, I also attended an evening put on by N., the leader of our group, who had booked the New Rope String Band ... they were fantastic ! Do go and see them if you ever get the chance ... good musicians, comics, story-tellers, clowns, players of odd instruments ... they were all of these !
http://www.newropestringband.co.uk/index.html
Thank goodness laughing wasn't in the silence remit !
Being silent, and making it obvious I couldn't speak by wearing a notice had an odd effect on several of the people I met. It had made me 'disabled' and thus I was out of many peoples experience. Some read the notice when I pointed it out and behaved very oddly ... these weren't total strangers, but people I have known, in some instances, for 30 years ! One friend decided she had to crouch and whisper at me, like to someone mentally handicapped or in a wheel-chair. A second person felt it necessary to raise her voice and speak very simply, like talking to a child. Another couple of people decided it was easiest to ignore me totally, not even catching my glance. Having lived the first 21 years of my life with two moderately physically disabled parents, and observed and been angered by the way they were treated all their lives ... I was still startled to see something of the same behaviour given to me ! People are strange ...
Another odd experience I had today was meeting someone in the supermarket, who said she admired what I was doing, but hadn't I thought it might be a good idea to support Amnesty International ? That got me thinking ...
People who become prisoners of conscience, have actually made a conscious decision to protest about political injustice in their countries, and in making that decision, surely they must have been aware of the risk of imprisonment ? But youngsters living and dying in absolute poverty on the streets of third world countries haven't made a decision to do so for fun or political reasons ! They are trapped in a situation not of their own making ... and so for me, they deserve much more help and support than political prisoners ...
... and yes, I do support Amnesty and have written the letters ...
1 comment:
Charlotte said...
Good on you . What you are doing is wonderful. Yes, your analysis of the difference between prisoners of conscience and those who are caught in poverty and ignorance is helpful and perceptive.
11 December 2010, 09:57
Good on you . What you are doing is wonderful. Yes, your analysis of the difference between prisoners of conscience and those who are caught in poverty and ignorance is helpful and perseptive.
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