Much ado about May Day (nothing is implied)

As citizens of New York marched, and as Oakland burned, Seattlites smashed windows in black-clad armies of anarchists, and … Spokane didn't do much.

With a population of 208,000 people, I would think that we might have more than half-dozen people aching to take to the streets in protest of the biggest robbery in history: 2008.

A few people gathered today in the International District off Sprague Street in East Spokane where a barbeque happened.

A few more people gathered at the Veteran’s Triangle on Bridge Street in downtown Spokane at noon. There were a couple signs with one kid eager to stand on the side of the road just off the Monroe Street Bridge on the eve of Kendall Yards.

What happened?

The central organizers didn’t show up for this one. Only at the last minute were there calls for an occupation of sorts. Nary had a soul turned out on this cold first day of May, 2012.

Could it be that Spokane is just too small for something like this to appeal to its inhabitants?

Or is it that Spokane is simply isolated from the outside world and its problems?

When you think about it, Spokane seems to whether these downturns better than most because it’s already highly impoverished. For most, Spokane was already poor, no use in worrying about any kind of economic downturn.

What downturn?

A few of the attendees at today’s local May Day General Strike stated that most of the regulars at Occupy Spokane went west to Seattle to take part in that city’s strike.

It’s possible that maybe Spokane is really just in the shadow of Seattle.