Fascists Make Me Cranky

I'm like a four-year-old in the fact that if I've slept poorly the night before I'm going to get cranky come mid-afternoon if I don't get a nap. I get extremely cranky if I don't get a nap and the reason why is because assholes (read: neo-word starting with an N, ending with an I and having an A Z in the middle) caused me to miss it.

I got up very late this morning because of said poor sleeping during the night and had to hustle my butt to the grocery store because we were down to having only baking powder, Riesling wine and canned tomatoes as breakfast options. When I got downstairs and out the door I saw police vans parked along the street and at the ends of the block and that only means one thing in my neighborhood - a scheduled demonstration of some sort is due along at any time. I live on the main drag in town so if you're going to have a demonstration, this is the place to do it.

Once in my car I headed north to the big grocery store I frequent, passing more police vans parked along the route, and once I was closer to my destination I noticed more police on the street. This was rather unusual because most demonstrations start at the cathedral or train station south of my apartment and go north to the university circle. By the time I got a block from the grocery store I saw a huge group of police walking down the street and behind them the demonstrators - the afore mentioned N-with-an-AZIs.

I want credit right now for not throwing at them the empty bottles I was returning for deposit that I had in the car.

It hit me then what it was about. Today's the 13th. The 16th is the anniversary of the 1945 bombing of this city. Evidently there are some sore losers that are still pissed about it and want to show everyone just how much.

I could see that the traffic behind the bald and brain damaged group demonstrators was backed up for blocks. The streetcars had stopped running in an effort to keep them away from the demonstrators. Turning onto the street where the entrance to the parking deck for the grocery store is located I could see traffic there backed up in a similar fashion. Even if I could get someone to let me through to park, by the time I finished my shopping and left to go home the demonstration would be down to where I live and I'd either be backed up behind them or if I took another route home I'd be prevented from crossing over to get back into my neighborhood.

Were these people just put on earth to screw up the lives of everyone else? They certainly don't make any other contribution except to be parasites to the social system.

I forgot about shopping and headed home via an alternate route. By the time I got back home the police presence in my neighborhood had increased and I still didn't have anything for breakfast. I ran up the street to a bakery and along the way I saw another group gathered on a corner by the memorial for the Jewish temple that had been destroyed in 1938. I couldn't see who they were at that point but after finishing at the bakery I walked home that way and could hear a woman speaking to the crowd and could hear her talking about demonstrating against neo-fascists, I suppose specifically those just up the street.

At that point I was grateful for having noticed that the all the police I had seen outnumbered both the fascists and their counter demonstrators because my home and my woefully worthless automobile was between the two groups who were getting closer and closer to one another.

I don't get a newspaper so I didn't know about these demonstrations being scheduled but my MIL does get the newspaper. When I got back home after passing even more police we called her to see if the newspaper had anything about the demonstrations.

"Oh yeah! It said in the paper yesterday that there were demonstrations scheduled. The neo-fascists were gathering up in Nord to march south, the anti-demonstrators were gathering at the cemetery south of you to march north and they believe they'll meet up around the train station. They recommend that people not drive around the area and perhaps even park their cars in another area in case a riot breaks out."

Thanks for the warning, Mutti! We're putting you in charge of tsunami evacuations next!

Actually if I'd known I'd have gone to the counter demonstration. I've been to them before when the jackbooted assholes show up. You come home hoarse from them.

I spent the next two hours with the windows on the west side of the apartment cracked open so I could hear if all hell was going to break loose. As I was making coffee and tea I could hear some police helicopters and saw even more police vans parked a block away on the street where the fascists were due to walk down but that was it. By the time I stuck my nose out at 2pm to try again to go grocery shopping it looked like any other normal Saturday afternoon. No riots, no clouds of teargas over the neighborhood, no burning cars.

And since I had to go grocery shopping, no nap for me. As if I didn't detest those skinheaded bastards enough.