I know stereotypes are a pernicious evil, but when a large pick up truck slowed to a stop on the middle of the road with its window down, I was worried. We were in rural Clark County, and we were a defenseless band of pro-marriage equality marchers on a lonely country road. Our bright yellow vests had signs on the back that read “Love for All: An Interfaith March for Marriage Equality.” That morning our march had been covered by the four major news stations in Portland, and we had prepared ourselves not to engage any hecklers we might encounter. With a tense feeling in the air, the exchange with the pickup driver went something like this:
Pick Up Driver: Where are you guys headed?
Us: Olympia (gulp)
Pick Up Driver: Are you the ones marching for marriage equality?
Us: Ye-(gulp)-es
Pick Up Driver: Right on, man!
Us: You heard about us!
Pick Up Driver (with sudden recognition that one of us looked familiar): Wait, I saw you on TV!
Us: Cool!
Pick Up Driver: You guys rock!
The pick up driver then proceeded to give us a six day forecast of the weather for the rest of our march to Olympia. The prospects looked decent.
This was one of two pleasant conversations we had today with pick up drivers who stopped in the middle of the road to talk with us about our march. All of this happened on a day full of unexpected grace. In just about every restaurant at which we stopped for either food or a bathroom break, the costumers and employees responded with enthusiasm to our march. At Carl’s Jr., the manager asked to take our picture on her smart phone, so that she could post it on facebook. In turn, I took a picture of her with the Rev. Walter John Boris to post on this blog (see below). At Burgerville, our marchers received a 10% discount after they learned of the purpose for our march. Outside Applebees, a costumer in the parking lot eagerly engaged one of our members in conversation about marriage equality for ten minutes before he had to finally leave. At a seafood restaurant in Ridgefield, a customer approached us and expressed her appreciation for what we were doing.
Before today, I believed that this march would lift our spirits, but I never expected that it would be the strangers who we encountered that would do most of the lifting. I never expected that walking sixteen miles in one day would be so enjoyable, but these strangers gave us all the boost that we needed.
