Fighting the Nazis, one move at a time

(AP Photo/Smithsonian Institution, Ann Batdorf)
We hate Nazis too

Part II: The Nazis came to town, but I didn't protest them
by wiscmass [Subscribe]
Sun Aug 27, 2006 at 05:15:37 PM PDT

On Monday, I wrote a diary about the Nazi rally scheduled for yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin, where I currently live, and the reason why I couldn't be there to protest, even if I decided that protesting would be better than ignoring the Nazis. I'm thrilled to report that only 60 Nazis had the guts to show up, they were outnumbered by protesters, and it rained on them the whole time. Sucks to be you, Nazi assholes, and it serves you right!

I, on the other hand, made a trip to my hometown, a place I refer to as Naziville for reasons that are obvious to anyone who read the other diary, to rescue a friend who desperately wanted to leave but needed help to do so. I'm happy to report -- as many of you requested that I do -- that we made it safely back to Madison without incident.

The trip started rather inauspiciously -- the deluge on Thursday night knocked out electricity and internet service to my building, and only electricity was restored by the time we had to leave, so I ended up having to do all the driving -- of my two co-conspirators, my girlfriend had never been to my hometown, and my little sister didn't know the route well enough because we moved away before she started driving. And of course, the rain continued pretty much all through Friday and for parts of Saturday, so our campground was... let's just say less than ideal. Still, we managed ok, we finished our trip to my hometown and arrived at my friend's house as planned at about 11 Saturday night, loaded up all her things, and hit the road a little before 4 a.m. There was one point on our way out of town that we thought we had been spotted -- I recognized one of the people I was hoping to avoid altogether, but he looked pretty drunk and the lighting would have worked against him anyway for the purpose of recognizing us -- but otherwise, the whole trip was as uneventful as any other time I've helped a friend move, except for the odd precautions.

After the long drive back to Madison, we unloaded all of my friend's things at another friend's apartment, returned the truck, and I came home for a well-deserved shower and to check my e-mail. Of course, internet service was still down, so I had to fix it, which is why it took until now to let you all know that we are ok. My friend is moving into her own apartment about six blocks from my own on Friday, and she starts her new job after Labor Day weekend.

I want to thank all of you who offered support, suggestions, and good thoughts and prayers for our well-being. We were very lucky that everything important went our way this weekend, but things could have gone wrong very easily. It is a comfort to know that in trying times, this community was here to support me, even though none of you know who I really am. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my friend, the new Madison resident, I thank you.