The Protest

Serge Pepper, 8.15.2026

It was hot this Friday when some twenty-five “old folks” lined up in front of the historic Quaker Meeting House along the busy highway. They were collegial, but somber. As a group they were no more impressive than the check-out line at the grocery store. Holding small American flags and hand lettered signs, many leaned on canes or walkers. They had gathered here several times a month all year long.

The cars and trucks largely swept by, enveloping them in traffic noise and exhaust. A nearby stop light periodically forced the hurried drivers to come to a begrudging halt. It was in those few moments that the group hoped to find some driver recognition. Some drivers stoically stared straight ahead pretending not to see the group only feet from them, much as they might do with a street beggar. However, to the delight of the group, an occasional driver might wave or honk in support.

What was the message that caused these seniors to commit part of their remaining last days to this seemingly Sisyphean task? The written message might differ from person to person, most often, an expression of governmental failing, but actually it was meant as a message to each driver. Although unspoken, each message conveyed a life time of experience and wisdom. A collective message that warned of the disregard of human history.

These are lives that were born in times of the depression, a world war, segregation, the Holocaust, polio and the dust bowl. When the majority of homes had no telephone, and television was in its infancy, and social media and personal computers were still in the future. Looking down this line of elderly citizens, on any given day, you might find a former school teacher, doctor, veteran, lawyer, scientist, homemaker, government employee, politician, nurse, banker, economist, social worker, engineer, priest or almost any other occupation. All lives that witnessed the Vietnam War, the dangers of nuclear power, U S political assassinations, lunar explorations, race riots, Aids, the Berlin wall and 9/11. All before someone who is now age 25.

It is a message that the country is in serious trouble. That we are in danger of a nuclear war. That the progress of integration has stopped. That our system of laws and courts has broken down. That a mix of inflation, national debt, lopsided corporate investment, and poverty threatens economic collapse. That the wealth gap foretells of civil unrest. That we have destroyed the economic and social power of immigration. That one man one vote and free elections may be over. That medical care will soon belong to only the rich. That our military is more of a threat to our nation than to its enemies. That our schools and universities are losing their intellectual freedom. That truth can no longer be trusted.

Verily, it is a plea to a public numbed by the country’s many ills. Time has blessed, or perhaps cursed, them with a memory of other dangerous times and what they see, you need to see. As you drive away, consumed by your busy lives, by chance, wonder what the old folks were doing. It isn’t so much a protest as a wake-up call that you have a chance to make a difference this November. It might be nice to honk your horn.