Well, the title pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
On my way to work that Friday morning - which was the one company lesson I had that day - I overhead an awkward and too-loud teenage girl on the subway talking about how Hamburg was such a big city, how she was excited, yadda yadda.
Well, then she starts talking about the Friday for Future demo (Denglish for demonstration/protest) that day. It sounds like it's going to be really big unlike the ones that have been going on until now, so I google it real quick in German.
As it turns out, Greta Thunberg descended from the North (being Swedish and having given up air travel and more or less forced her family to do the same, she pretty much protests from there and Denmark) to give a speech to all the schoolkids who had followed her lead with a school strike for the climate. No point in doing your math homework if widespread natural disasters, food shortages, civil unrest, et cetera means you probably won't live to see 60, right? Though these kids compromised and only strike every Friday, it has been allowed, and many teachers continue to participate, too. They not only march but do things like cleaning up trash at the massive city park, as I happened to notice and feel really proud about one day when I was walking through part of it on my way somewhere. It's pretty cool, and beyond good for the teens and for society, in my opinion.
I decided to wait around for half an hour or whatever after my lesson and basically be just in time and already in basically the exact right place to see the march, and Greta.
Because no, Gretchen, this is not a big city lol.
Weird Mönkebergstraße Einstein chalk art? Sure, why not.
... creepy!
Also some nice slaps, as usual - but I really want to know who did this one!
This girl wins, the rest of you can go home
I overheard it being said that there were around 30,000 people marching that day. The energy was great, and the whole thing was very orderly and made for quite the spectacle. I don't imagine this will be the case once things have deteriorated further in another decade or two. Right now, though, we're still in the pretty positive and hopeful stage.
Too right.
This guy is a German actor, but I don't have any idea who he is, and based on the reactions around me, I'm pretty sure he was before just about everybody's time.. but still, support is good!
... This, though. This is not good. Look at this shit. I could not believe this guy.
Not only did these tall old fucks push their way to the front, but everybody to my left and behind me was younger and shorter than me - much shorter, in a lot of cases. I don't care who this guy works for or who may have told him that it was: videoing with a tablet is n o t o k a y.
Trying to ignore Cueball and the Big Screen here and focus on the point of this!
I just.. There is a giant bald head in my pictures of Greta giving a scripted and general but still inspiring talk. To kids. This is being done by kids, about their future, because this dude's generation pillaged the planet and fucked up the climate. You are the problem, you old idiot!
Ugh. At least I got away from his massive shiny head..
At the time, it was less common knowledge that Greta is on the spectrum. There have since been a few articles that talk about it more or even focus on it, but I had no idea that she has Asberger's or something similar. All I was getting at the time was these "Oh wow lol look at these fucking goons," looks she was unintentionally giving the people emceeing this event, members of the press, and people in the crowd. I actually laughed quietly and whispered, "Oh no, baby, what is you doin'?!" a couple of times at these admittedly very funny looks, assuming she was just in a bit of a mood or that something annoying or shitty had happened before she was led onstage.
-insert laugh-cry emoji-
I flipped my camera around to selfie mode at one point. These people are shouting mid-word so it does look a bit silly, but check them out! It was quite a crowd, filling the entire spacious plaza in front of City Hall.
(video coming soon)
Healed about 3 months
Here's an official and/or promotional photo of the set from the barber shop and/or Brooklyn Soap Company
Here are my own photos of the set, because I really don't love the art style to be honest, but it is a very, very nice thing to have won.
I went ahead and skipped his illustration of clippers on the other side, because they look like an upright vacuum cleaner or something. Hannes legit had no idea what it was supposed to be until I explained which part was what, and he remained unconvinced. Oof. Sorry Tobias.
Totally unrelated, but that same day, I also took a nice photo of this bouquet that I had found in the trash in the subway :B You go trash flowers.
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