Growing up, our afternoon bus driver, Lynette, would politely pull over and let cars pass our slow school bus on the long stretch of two-lane highway that led to our country homes.
Naturally, this OUTRAGED us.
I mean, our lives were important! We had after-school cartoons to watch. We had chores to do, and god-dammit, we had times tables to memorize! We were the proletariat of this society! They should be letting US pass THEM!
We were the kids who got on the bus first in the morning, and last in the afternoon. We were veritable martyrs.
We'd whisper: "She's such a terrible driver! It's not even legal to let people pass you like this! She's putting us in danger!"
Then Lynette became our morning school bus driver, too. OH THE OPPRESSION! I mean, Oh My God, she would HONK THE HORN in the morning when we weren't out waiting. How hateful.
Somehow our collective outrage never developed past pre-teen angst.
If it would have, we would have picketed, refusing to board the bus until our demands to be home earlier were met! We would not rest until the 7:15 horn remained in patient silence!
The outrage we felt was laughable. Times certainly change. So do people. So did I.
The other night I read my friend Kristen's tweet about the protest at Temple Square about Boyd K. Packer's general conference remarks. I had read his talk and was naturally upset. There was only 30 minutes left of the protest (15 minutes of which would be spent driving downtown). But I decided I needed to be there.
Twenty-five minutes later I was running through downtown. Parking was scarce because of the protest. I had parked five blocks away. My full-speed run left me breathless, but I made it.
The protest was well-attended. And for the five-minutes I was there, I was happy to be doing what I was doing. Because God-dammit, I deserve my rights. And others deserve theirs, too. And nobody deserves to grow up in an environment where they are labeled "impure and unnatural."
As some of you know, my video "It Gets Better" has gotten quite the attention. I've had over 40,000 views on YouTube. I was interviewed by the LA Times and by the Associated Press.
And you know me... I LOVED the attention. But I also loved knowing that people were (are) watching my video.
I don't know what the point of this post is (except that this has been on my mind a lot). I guess I just want to say that it's nice to be a part of something that's bigger than me. It's nice to be working toward something that I know is right. And GOD, it's great to not have to ride the school bus.
I'm still pissed about all the Duck Tales I missed, though. That shit's irreparable.
