You probably read about the protest at the State House on Saturday in today's Daily Herald article by Hannah Moser.  Maybe you were one of the hundreds of people who showed up despite the rain.  Or maybe you drove by and saw the action.  Me, I was sitting in front my computer, working on a paper, periodically stopping to people watch out my window. 

My friend texted me around 11:45 saying, "Wanna come protest?"

She didn't tell me what the protest was all about.  I don't know if she thought maybe I just liked to protest anything, perhaps I'd developed a bit of a reputation, or maybe she assumed I already knew what was going on.  Fortunately, I knew exactly she meant the protest organized by the Providence Guerrilla Gay Bar. 

"Nah," I texted back, "But have fun.  I wrote an article about it though so I know what's up."

Friend: "Thought you'd want the on the spot interviews."

Me: "Not in the rain I don't haha."

Friend: "Discrimination doesn't take a break for rain."

Me: "Hah.  well I sure ain't standing around in the rain.  I'm too cynical to believe it will make a difference.  but more power to you.  I will be writing all day."

So, there you have it.  You might have had on-the-spot interviews, you might have even got some great photographs other than this one from the Daily Herald (Thanks, Hannah!), but it was raining.  There you go.  I wonder how many important newsworthy moments have been missed because the sky was pissing it down with rain?  

I kind of miss my days of youthful idealism, but let's be frank here: do protests really make a difference?  I'd like to believe in all that power to the people bullshit, and maybe having the president for change Mr. Obama really will make a difference, but my feeling is that attending a protest is sorta like preaching to the choir:  it's nice to know a bunch of people feel the same way you do, but you ain't going to change anybody else's mind.  Am I wrong?