I met Ashley at the Verizon Center to protest the Ringling Bros Circus that was going on in DC. I thought that protesting was a very fitting sort of thing to do while I was in the nation's capital! There were a few other protests going on that day- one for worker's rights, one for immigrant's rights, and one of those "tea parties" protesting big government. I thought that in order to get us some publicity maybe I should get thrown in jail or something.. as environmental or animal rights protesters seem to be labeled as the "crazy ones." Don't worry- I decided this was a bad idea. Kraig did warn me though- you are a critzer now... if you really do want to go to jail- just mention your last name and you will probably get there faster! ha! This is because many generations of Critzers have been involved in the agricultural revolution and government protests in the past.
I decided to participate in this protest as part of my new direction in life. I have always been concerned with animal welfare, and I have also always been very environmentally conscious- so I am going to devote more of my time to these causes.
I am trying to make changes in my life where I only use cruelty-free products and avoid eating meat/eggs which come from factory farms. I know that I cannot become a vegetarian (I really am not a fan of too many veggies), so this is the best that I can do! I think it is also a move for me to become healthier myself.
I have always cared about animals. I used to always cry when I saw animals on the side of the road that had been run over by a car- and I will still cry if I run one over myself! Everyone and everything on this planet is intertwined. All life is beautiful, and I cannot bear to think about any kind of suffering- especially the suffering of animals because they cannot really fight back against people [as a whole] and they cannot stand up for themselves.
Anyways, we were protesting the circus because of its inhumane treatment of the animals in its shows. In order to train them to perform they are whipped and shocked. Mother elephants are even killed just to get their babies away to train them. The circus has been cited by the USDA many times but still the practices continue.
The actual protest was very interesting. We held up signs as people went into the box office to get their circus tickets and handed out brochures to these same people to show what their money was financing. Some of the protesters were very pushy.. but I took the more.. "please read this "so that you can make informed decisions in the future kind of thing. I mean.. you catch more flies with honey or something like that, right? I also did not intentionally target the kids- even though younger people seem to be more receptive to listening about these kinds of things.
Some people were very open to listening and some weren't. It was very interesting to see how people reacted. Some would say, oh those elephants have it so good- they get food every day.. in Africa they would just get hunted... (to which I said, actually it has been shown that elephants living in the circus have half the lifespan of elephants in the wild). This guy did not care. Other people avoid you while other people yell at you. One lady threw the pamphlet down on the ground and stomped on it. I couldn't help myself and asked that person at least not to litter! A few people said that they hate the circus but were going for their kids (their kids were like 2)- so that didn't make any sense to me. One man told us that we were a bunch of stupid women that should go find better things to do with our time. The group of us informed him that we have jobs and are taxpayers!
It was actually kind of fun in a crazy way, and I was proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and doing it. It felt good to do something instead of just talking about it. It did make it easier to have Ashley there with me to share our first protest since neither of us knew what to expect. I do think we helped change a few people's minds so that's all that matters, right? I think so.
Anyway, I just do not understand why people react in the ways that they do. Why should they be angry about something like this? Someone said, shouldn't you care more about poor people? I said, "are you working to help poor people yourself because I would be interested in what you have to say." I mean do not judge me on what I care about... I do not judge you.
Whenever people approach me on the street..like people spreading the Word.. I may not agree with them, but I am not rude. I just say no thank you. Cmon people, why can't we all just get along?!?
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