I participated in an anti-war riot when I was in 8th grade. It was epic. We left campus to walk from Tillicum Middle School to Sammamish High School and meet up with students who were marching to Bellevue City Hall. At City Hill we were going to protest rumors of the national draft re-starting as a result of the Gulf War. As 14 year olds, we had a lot at stake with that draft looming over our heads. Sheesh. When we were 2 blocks away from school I turned around. Yup - I totally chickened out and went back to school. Like I said, it was epic. Mind you, I sat in detention later that week with all of the other transgressors and had to write a paper about my poor decision-making process. As far as I can remember, my paper was horribly written and really whiny. The central focus was that I had returned to campus and shouldn't be punished with the hooligans who had simply used the riot as an excuse to ditch school. I knew for a fact that several of them didn't march anywhere; they just went home to play Super Mario Brothers! So the fact that we received the same punishment was almost unbearable, but I digress ....
The riots in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf are an amazing reflection of the possible change any generation can have on their country and their world. I've been checking in with my Dad and he is an "obsessive" follower of the media along with having an incredible sense of timing. The man was in Arabia when the Ayatollah Khomeini took over Iran and on vacation in Kabul when the Russian Army rolled into Afghanistan. He's got quite the track record with historical events! To date he is not concerned about any of these current changes having a negative impact on his job in Saudi Arabia. So rest easy - things are quiet in Yanbu this evening!
