SIGN:
IMPACT:
After ~1 hour of sitting (16:53-18:00),
- ~7 individuals walked by me and refused to acknowledge me or the sign.
- ~5 people deliberately walked around me.
- 1 individual (southern caucasian appearence; woman presenting) in a grey pick up truck honked at me and gave me the middle finger with a mean face. I smiled and laughed.
- 1 individual (POC; male presenting) in a black car gave me a thumbs up after reading the signs. Based on their microexpressions and lack of conviction in their thumbs up, it was likely that they were not vegan and were simply acknowledging the cause as a just one.
- 2 individuals (southern caucasian appearence; male and female presenting) in a trailer truck (carrying a lot of pallets?) gave me many big honks and were passionately waving their thumbs up in the air and smiling out of the window. This made me elated! I wish I could have met them.
SELF ANALYSIS:
I sat down with the sign for about an hour, and since it was voting day, the streets were busy as I was very close to a polling station (Mission St. Luis), I know that hundreds of people read the message: “Vote with your dollar. Stop paying for slaughter. Save lives. Go vegan.”
This long-form message required 3 signs, and as I am only one person on a windy day, no less, I was forced to adopt weird positions utilizing my feet to hold up the lower sign and my teeth to bite down on the top two signs to prevent the messages from being swayed by the strong winds. It was a struggle, and I was tired. I had to continually remind myself that this is nothing compared to what the animals go through, so I stayed for the full hour rather than quitting when I started to get sore (around 35 minutes).
Regardless of how I felt, it was clear from the middle-finger I received that more radical messages breed more radical responses. Nonetheless, these radical responses were both negative AND positive, so I consider it a job well done.
Next time, I have to take into account the weather, and perhaps fortify my signs with wood so the messages don’t get taken down by the wind.