I was wrong.
I took off work (later made up the time) and convinced my husband that he should abandon his research for 3 hours and accompany me to the event. We took the Caltrain up into the city-it was only 3 blocks from the start of the rally. How lucky could we get? The train was FULL of Chinese people-I seriously felt like I was back in Beijing. I was living in Tianjin when they announced Beijing would be the host of the '08 games. How lucky that I was now in SF to experience the next piece of Olympics history.
When we got there, we were lucky enough to push to the front of the crowd and get me a seat on the curb. I couldn't believe my luck, this NEVER happens to me. (Having a husband who is willing to push people out of my way and let me lean on him is such a blessing.) I'm sitting on the ground, a wall of SFPD in front of me. They had on three foot beat sticks and eventually brought out the riot gear-shields and helmets. No joke. And it is at this point that I'm wondering if, as a handicapped person, I should not get myself into these situations. I'm also thinking I should have left the Coach bag at home. And I'm also thinking that if the 90 year old Chinese woman who flew in from Vancouver to see this would be OK on the curb, then I might be, too.
We had mostly supporters by us, but saw many protesters of course. (Tibet! Darfur!! Burma!!!) I made some friends with some of the supporters and of course wowed them with my Mandarin. I'm feeling pretty good at this point.
Then the clock starts ticking. People start calling people they know at different points of the run to see what they know. One person says his friend saw the torch being lit and then it disappeared. Even the police, who kept shifting like the changing of the guards, had NO CLUE what was going on. We had a torch runner by us-he had no clue what was going on either. We'd been there an hour at this point. I am sunburned. The guy next to us (who was quite a loud mouth about his support for sporting events in general and I was embarrassed to be standing next to as I didn't want to be associated with his chants of "can you find Tibet on a map?") had been standing there for four hours. And it is at this point, around 2:00, that everyone starts to disband.
On our way out we were interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle (and our quotes never printed) about if we thought what they did was worth it, and if we saw anything that could pose a threat to public safety. The answer to that would be no. In our area, everyone was stating their opinion in a calm matter. We saw it all-from signs that were confusing like "US out of China!" and some confusing signs about the CIA and China, so confusing that I don't remember it's message. We saw an ACLU on-sight observer. We saw people protesting for Tibet and Darfur. Most of us were there to support China. But nowhere did I see pushing, shoving, fighting, bickering, craziness or otherwise. (This isn't to say that this didn't happen in other parts of the city.) Everyone followed police orders in our area. So in my opinion, what they did was not worth it.
Mayor Gavin Newsom and police chief Heather Fong said that all along they've said they had the right to change the route if they felt it necessary. But what kind of a route was that? They ran it through a warehouse? The police didn't even have a clue what was going on and stood out there for hours in the blazing sun. More important, thousands of people were left disappointed. I don't understand why they bothered to hold an event at all if they were going to completely botch it from beginning to end. They put out the torch at a ceremony at the airport. What the heck is that?
When you think about San Francisco, you think about how progressive they are, and that protesting is basically a way of life. The birth place of the hippy. Liberal. I'm quite embarrassed that the torch's only stop in my country was marred by fear, poor planning and communication, and playing into the tantrums of people who want to ruin things for everyone. The people who posed a threat to public safety obviously aren't in tune with the Dalai Lama's message.
I do not stand behind what's going on in Tibet at all. However, I do not think that politics and the Olympics mix. These countries that are boycotting the opening ceremonies should try putting pressure on China in the real political arenas-and should have been doing so long before this. In addition, the Olympic Committee chose China for a reason, and it should be left at that.
Finally, we go to the games and participate with Iraq, North Korea, Iran and others on the axis of evil list. We participated in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin when Hitler was in power. This BBC article highlights the shady past of the torch itself. This isn't to say that these things were not met with political protest, or that it makes it alright for China to do what it's doing.
To me, it simply means that the Olympic arena is not a political one.
