Now serving ticket number 42

One of the things that seems to be a popular activity here is to demonstrate.  Every day of the week there is some kind of demonstration going on in the city.  Partly because we live in the capital of the country I guess it is a hot-bed of public protest activity.

It seems to be the sentiment of the world these days to protest and demonstrate.  It gets lots of press and helps to get people's messages out.   Apparently all over the world it is growing in popularity again.  However, maybe here it is so popular because this is a fairly new democracy and they are still working to get their ducks in a row.  Whatever the reason, I find it rather interesting and yes sometimes very unnerving.

Each day, my honey pie gets a security notice.  On this notice is a list of the times, locations, what group is protesting, and how many guests they are expecting.  What really caught my eye was that they had times assigned to each group.

Since I seem to be really good at connecting point A to point K this was the scenario running through my head about how this time schedule comes to be:

Office of Protest Permit Applications (OPPA) - "Selamat sore Ibu/Pak.  How can I help you?"
Protest Organizer (PO) -  "Well I would like to hold a demonstration next Wednesday.  What times do you have available?"
OPPA- "Let's see.  Wednesdays are popular days so maybe you would like to do a Monday or a Tuesday?"
PO -  "No.  We need next Wednesday as that is when we have the bus arranged to bring all of our guests in from out of town to march around, throw rocks and beat-up on cars parked close by."
OPPA -  "Oh, you are so organized!  Let's see what we have."  Between 8 and 9 the Glorious Group against Koruption are marching at the House of Representatives.  Between 9 and 10  The Righteous Because we are Righteous group is marching at the Presidential Palace.  10 to 11 the We are Tired of Working for Peanuts group of monkey street performers are marching at various heavily traveled intersections.  So if you want to go between 11 and 12 we have a slot."
PO -"Hmmm.  That won't work because we will be handing out the box lunches we are providing our marchers at that time.  What do you have in the early afternoon?"
OPPA - "Looks like we could squeeze you in between 2 and 3.  Does that work for you?"
PO - "Excellent.  We will take it!"
OPPA -  "Very good.  Here is the form you need to fill out.  Please let us know the name of your group, what your general beef is that you would like to be known for, how many guests you are expecting to march around with you, and of course the area you are requesting.  Also there is a form on the table over there for a great place to have your protest tee shirts printed if you need help with that."
PO - "Looks pretty simple.  How long is the turn-around on the tee shirts?"
OPPA - "With the time frame you are requesting, it is going to be close.  We usually request 10 days as they sent out to a neighboring country who will work cheaper and do even cheaper knock-offs than we do.  But a friend of mine who does great Gucci knock-offs can do them for you in about three days, but you will pay more for them."
PO - "Guess we will have to go local and just pay our guests less in assistance fees for their time to come join in the protest."
OPPA - "Fill out the form and return it to me.  Thank you for visiting our office and have a nice protest."