labor movement

when i transferred to the orange line at l'enfant plaza around 2:50 this afternoon, i saw the train approach and thought it was real weird that so so many midwestern looking white men were on the train. normally there are tons of seats at this time of day, but there are all theseguys standing in the aisles. god, i really just wanted to sit down. i get on the train and stand amongst american men. i then see why they are all on the train. they are steelworkers. many holding little protest signs. even more wearing union baseball caps. we all stood there. they knew each other and talked. i sort of eavesdropped. sort of read everyone's hats to see where they were from. ohio, west virginia, and pennsylvannia. we stood there inert. sort of. the metro was moving but we really weren't. i mean we were in the metro, and so i guess our bodies were moving with the metro - but we weren't moving our limbs or anything really. and they were obviously going to go protest something somewhere. i wanted to follow them and go where they went and demand whatever it is that they were demanding, but i had to go to work. i got off at easten market, and this mass of steelworkers continued on to wherever it is that they were going, to demand whatever it is that they were demanding. they all looked like they could have been someone's dad and they were out to do good and demand better, they were labor, they still exist, and there were so many of them, and that is the coolest fucking thing.