The voice of the people

I'm in Los Angeles right now, pecking away on my laptop keyboard in the comfort of my bed. How did I manage to survive before laptops & wireless? Funny how we get so used to something & it becomes a necessity instead of a luxury. Anyways, I'd spent the day in Torrance, a suburb south of LAX. With my flight kind of early tomorrow morning, I decided I'd return my rental car this evening & save myself some time tomorrow morning. So there I was, on the 405 thinking I could exit on Century Blvd., which is the main road to the LA airport. NOT. That exit was completely blocked. So I head up to the next exit thinking I could turn around & head south on the 405 & enter that way. NOT. Next option...bypass Century altogether & try the back roads. I finally made it to the car rental location. I inquired as to the reason behind the traffic madness. Protests, I was told. Protests by the hotel employees who work at the hotels at & near LAX for better benefits, etc. And with that road closed off to accomodate the protest, all the side streets were completely clogged.
One can be really annoyed with whole situation & irritated with the delays & inconvenience that such events inevitably produce. However, we all have the right to protest. The First Amendment to the Constitution states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. "

I've visited countries where people wouldn't dare hold a protest against anything, let alone the government. How many of those workers are actually working here illegally yet still protesting? How's that for a dichotomy? See, I think that's the beauty of the whole thing. The Bill of Rights isn't discriminatory by only allowing groups with a specific status to assemble, or restricting freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc. So they protested all afternoon, with the LAPD providing security.

I'm thankful I live in a country that still values such liberties. Let's not take any of these for granted.

The eyes are drooping, the bed is cozy...zzzzzzz