{"id":1472,"date":"2010-09-17T16:45:23","date_gmt":"2010-09-17T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/?p=1472"},"modified":"2010-09-17T16:45:23","modified_gmt":"2010-09-17T14:45:23","slug":"a-little-late-to-the-big-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/17\/a-little-late-to-the-big-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"A little late to the big protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

I tell you what, let’s forget the fact that you’re coming a little late to the party and embrace the fact that you showed up at all.<\/em> *<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"I like a good protest as much as your average expat — much more, probably. Yesterday’s demonstration in Luxembourg’s center promised to be a big one. At the end of July, after Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced his intention to go ahead with budget reforms over the protests<\/a> of unions and other groups, those disregarded organizations<\/a> announced the September protest. So I noted 16 September, 5:30pm, on my calendar and started reading the politics section of the newspaper more carefully.<\/p>\n

Protests in Dublin<\/a>, while I was there, could be large or small, but they were always long. As in the US, they usually took about an hour to get warmed up. So, at about 6:15 yesterday, I walked to Place Clairefontaine to snap a few photos and to learn how to dissent publicly in the Luxembourgish style. I wanted to met Anita for the walk back home, so I thought, “Boy, this timing worked out perfectly!”<\/p>\n

Here’s what I found on Place Clairefontaine.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nThere were enough barricades for a big protest — but no people at all. A mobile stage was already pulling away from the square near the government buildings. Had I really missed the most anticipated manifestation<\/em> of the year? I checked the time: alright, the event was to start at 5:00pm, not 5:30. Still, thousands of people were expected to come — was it even possible, in ninety minutes, to move that many people into the small space and out again?<\/p>\n

In a word, yes. At the nearest major road, I found buses pulling away from the curb, filled with people wear green and red ponchos and hats.
\n\"\"
\nHere’s what I missed, from a photo courtesy the competent photographers of L’essentiel<\/a>:
\n\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Luxembourgers clearly prefer their demonstrations “short and far between.”**<\/a> From the newspapers this morning, it looks like I missed a large, colorful, and incredibly well-organized protest. Four to five thousand people, several speeches, a radical fringe, and vuvuzelas. But I saw the most remarkable feature of the event: there were hardly any stray fliers or trash. At worst, the nearest refuse bins were full.<\/p>\n

Maybe they didn’t stick around because of the rain. It was sunny at 5:00pm (the scheduled start of the protest), but it started to rain by 7:00. <\/p>\n

But wait, the BUSES! They planned<\/em> to be out of the city center by 6:30. They could be home in time for dinner and a quiet evening, apparently the true passions of those who live and work in Luxembourg.<\/p>\n

Clearly, I have a lot to learn here. For now, I’ll wait to see whether this mass of efficient and tidy dissidents will have any short-term impact.<\/p>\n

What do they want? I’ll tell you in my next post, tomorrow. To the impatiently curious, have a look at the English-language news this morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Notes:
\n1.<\/a> “coming a little late to the party”: The West Wing, Episode 6<\/a>. Sam to C.J., explaining the census.<\/p>\n

2.<\/a> from The Grave<\/em> by Robert Blair<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The good he scorn’d
\nStalk’d off reluctant, like an ill-used ghost,
\nNot to return; or if it did, in visits
\nLike those of angels, short and far between. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I tell you what, let’s forget the fact that you’re coming a little late to the party and embrace the fact that you showed up at all. * I like a good protest as much as your average expat — much more, probably. Yesterday’s demonstration in Luxembourg’s center promised to be a big one. At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,620,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1472"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1497,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions\/1497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}