Friday, November 20, 2009

shouty sign guy

He stands at the intersection just before Ring Road, which runs about the campus. Every day he has a different sign, and a different thing to shout. Mostly it's about who and what will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which so far includes scientists, the United Nations, environmentalists, lesbians, sodomites, and chemicals.
Clearly his logic circuits aren't connected in the usual ways and there's no point attempting to engage him in discussion, or even ask him what his aims are--does he really think he'll change anyone's mind or heart by shouting at them that they're damned? He shouted at me two days ago about women who hated men but copied them by cutting their hair short, and I was tempted to whip my braid out from under my rainjacket, but then he probably would have gone on to my wearing men's clothing or something (rainjacket is made from chemicals?).

But I remembered the advice I'd been given for walking the picket line (these many years ago) of responding to hostility or abuse by saying "Have a nice day!" So this morning I smiled at him and shouted "God loves you! Be happy!"
And he smiled and waved, and blessedly shut up.

9 comments:

fairyhedgehog said...

That was very effective!

batgirl said...

I bit my tongue and stopped at that, and did not add anything like 'why are you so full of hate and misery when God loves you?'
Dialogue is not going to happen, I have to accept that.

Terri-Lynne said...

My husband did that same thing on Halloween in the Costco parking lot. Some woman came up to our car window as we waited for a spot in the parking lot, shouting that we had to be patient and couldn't hold up traffic waiting for a spot. Frank rolled down the window and shouted, "Merry Christmas! Have a nice day!"

She kind of took a step back, astonished, then walked away. We laughed pretty hard.

batgirl said...

Not 'Happy Halloween'? But I guess you never know how someone might take that.

Evan Goer said...

As the Good Book says, it is easier for a C60-Ih)[5,6]fullerene to pass through a benzene ring than for a chemical to get into Heaven!

batgirl said...

Amen.

Philippe de St-Denis said...

Funny you should have had this experience--today, as we were entering the mall, a couple of security guards were seeing a voluble Jesus-freak out. he was attempting to elicit the support of the general, gawking public by decrying the unfairness of his situation and the brutality of the mall dicks (who weren't touching him). And I just told him to shut up, because I was cranky and surrounded by idiots.

You were much more civilized and charitable.

--A Going-To-Hell Lesbian

batgirl said...

But you'll hang out with David Suzuki there - and get all the chemicals, too.

Terri-Lynne said...

I think the "Merry Christmas" was his attempt to throw her off balance. ;)