1971

photo credit University of Minnesota student newspaper The  Daily.

Today I caught a minute of the news.  Normally I avoid watching television news unless it's BBC news.  At the gym I was stretching and on the news was film of high school students walking out of class today to protest the gun laws in our nation.  Suddenly my mind went back in time. All of a sudden I was a high school student sitting in one of the strangest high school libraries you have ever seen. The library was on multiple levels (maybe 5?) and large windows overlooking the athletic fields. The students had organized a walk out to protest the Vietnam War.  I stayed inside the school.  I never even considered walking out to join the protest. I went to high school to get an education and you can't get educated walking out in the athletic field against school rules. The school librarian had a gruff persona and she was making comments about the protesters. She praised the students who, like me, stayed in school. I wan't sure what to think. I never even made a decision whether to join the protest or not join the protest. I see now that not making that decision was deciding not to join the protest. Now that I am older I am less of a rule follower.I follow many rules. I follow traffic rules. I follow the rules that keep me out of prison. But if I could go back to that high school library now I would have walked out of there with those other students. I see now that there was education going on outside my high school that day.  I have no regrets.I have a new found appreciation of those brave students who walked out today.  Is brave another word for reckless? I have no idea.