I caught myself in a moment of pride (Not the kind San Francisco is famous for)

Today I attended an anti-war vigil outside the federal building in San Francisco. As I stood watching San Fransisco take a lunch break I wondered why I was wasting my time on this corner with a banner. Wasting is probably a harsh word, but I was hungry and would have felt just as peaceful eating a sandwich somewhere. I didn't feel any more motivated when two young men approached me and said "What are you trying to do here? You know 95 percent of the people inside this building (motioning to the federal building) agree with you"? Before I could even think to myself, "what building am I standing in front of"?, a woman who has faithfully attended this vigil for five years spoke up; "We are in front of the federal building because they federal government wages war"! My face turned red. The young men went back into work with their lunches in hand and a story for their coworkers to chuckle at over lunch. My fellow vigil goer said under her breath "If they all think we are right why aren't they out here with us?" I told the woman holding the other end of the banner that I believe those guys may be right, 95 percent of the people inside may support the end of war, but just because people do not believe in war does not mean they will act for peace.
This is when I remembered the reason I was outside the federal building. Just a week or so ago I was on the edge of my seat reading the news and watching Utube videos of the protests in Iran, wondering why we had never known that kind of uprising. Surely the majority has questioned and/or objected to a presidential election, a war, torture, detention centers, nuclear weapons or whatever! But we had never taken to the streets in the way the Iranian people had. I am not making a comparison of the political situations but comparing the peoples' response. I watched the video of Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman shot and killed on the sidewalk in Tehran and still thousands marched on the streets. Many Iranian people not only questioned their government, but were willing to literally put their lives on the line. If we had those numbers protesting a vote or war in the US what would happen?
Considering Neda and the cost she paid for voicing outrage at a falsely assumed presidency in Iran, I felt myself obligated and empowered to continue to speak to injustice in our country and government. The lunch hour vigil in front of the federal building is not dramatic and alone, will not end war, but we must continue to use the free speech we do have.
My moment of pride came when a gentleman who works with the local (former Catholic Worker)soup kitchen, after asking my name, asked where I was from. Told him Tacoma Washington- I was living at the Catholic Worker. "Oh!" he said "You were one of those arrested, weren't you"? A smile formed across my face. It is nice to be known, and I did take pride in the work done at the Tacoma Catholic Worker.