IN MY OPINION
Toy soldiers serve in war against war
Posted on Sun, Aug. 12, 2007
By ANA MENENDEZ
amenendez@MiamiHerald.com
"You may have seen them somewhere around Miami -- tiny plastic toy soldiers enlisted in the war against the war.
''Bring them home!'' says the front of the tag wrapped around the soldier's leg. On the back, the numbers for Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez.
The pacifist toy soldiers are popping up in supermarkets, drug stores and other public places. Call it the Dada protest: It's driven by the hope that war, that most destructive of pursuits, can be halted by a sly creative genius just this side of the absurd.
The campaign, brought here by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation -- http://www.uumia.org/ -- near South Miami, begins its third week today. Already, church members have distributed dozens of soldiers across the county.
Friday morning, I joined Judy Homer on a drop at Dadeland Mall.
NOT FOR THE TIMID
Stealth protesting is not for the shy. Even the most experienced agitator can find herself suddenly caught in a crisis of nerve when, for example, sitting in a parking garage with a paper bag full of mission-bound soldiers.
''I do get nervous, but I won't let it deter me,'' said Homer, 64. ``I like that it's a protest and that it's a peaceful one. I'm an old hippie.''
Within minutes, she was through the doors of Macy's and tucking a soldier between the athletic shoes at a Skechers display.
''We'll see if it's still there when we get back,'' she said, delighted.
Yes, it's legal -- the church checked with lawyers. And, no: no one has complained, though Homer promises to apologize to anyone who is offended.
With most Americans now firmly against the war in Iraq, though, the soldier drops, while they can be nerve-wracking, aren't likely to be dangerous. Homer's advice to the retiring: It gets easier.
One woman who overcame her shyness confided to her: ``I got a total rush!''
Homer headed out of Macy's and toward J.C. Penney. On the way, she propped a soldier on a marble tabletop and another on the counter at a smoothie cart.
The day before, 55 members of the Florida National Guard had returned home. Friday was the funeral for one soldier who didn't. And Homer, without being maudlin, was in a pensive mood: ``I just want this war to end.''
SIMPLE MESSAGE
So do a lot of people. Will the toy soldiers succeed where thousands of war protesters have failed? Staff at the Florida senators' office said they did not field an increase in calls. But the campaign has enormous appeal. It's an example of a tough issue sharpened by simplicity. It also suggests the power of new ways of thinking.
No, college students aren't protesting the way they did in the 1960s, but why can't this quiet way be just as noble? Computers, e-mail and inexpensive printing offer their own modern response to an increasingly mechanized war.
The stealth soldiers also bring something else to this depressing debate: serious whimsy. Years back, a beloved co-conspirator and I blanketed the streets with homemade stickers printed with poetry.
As Homer strolled Dadeland Mall, I got to thinking: What if someone were to buy a pack of toy soldiers? And what if someone were to attach to them, not rational appeals, but lines of verse? Say, perhaps, something from Li Po: So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass,/ And the generals have accomplished nothing.
It probably wouldn't end the war. Maybe no one would notice. But it'd be one quiet protest, one sliver of beauty against the enormity of sorrow and destruction.
It's absurd. Someone should do it."
Toy soldiers serve in war against war
Posted on Sun, Aug. 12, 2007
By ANA MENENDEZ
amenendez@MiamiHerald.com
"You may have seen them somewhere around Miami -- tiny plastic toy soldiers enlisted in the war against the war.
''Bring them home!'' says the front of the tag wrapped around the soldier's leg. On the back, the numbers for Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez.
The pacifist toy soldiers are popping up in supermarkets, drug stores and other public places. Call it the Dada protest: It's driven by the hope that war, that most destructive of pursuits, can be halted by a sly creative genius just this side of the absurd.
The campaign, brought here by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation -- http://www.uumia.org/ -- near South Miami, begins its third week today. Already, church members have distributed dozens of soldiers across the county.
Friday morning, I joined Judy Homer on a drop at Dadeland Mall.
NOT FOR THE TIMID
Stealth protesting is not for the shy. Even the most experienced agitator can find herself suddenly caught in a crisis of nerve when, for example, sitting in a parking garage with a paper bag full of mission-bound soldiers.
''I do get nervous, but I won't let it deter me,'' said Homer, 64. ``I like that it's a protest and that it's a peaceful one. I'm an old hippie.''
Within minutes, she was through the doors of Macy's and tucking a soldier between the athletic shoes at a Skechers display.
''We'll see if it's still there when we get back,'' she said, delighted.
Yes, it's legal -- the church checked with lawyers. And, no: no one has complained, though Homer promises to apologize to anyone who is offended.
With most Americans now firmly against the war in Iraq, though, the soldier drops, while they can be nerve-wracking, aren't likely to be dangerous. Homer's advice to the retiring: It gets easier.
One woman who overcame her shyness confided to her: ``I got a total rush!''
Homer headed out of Macy's and toward J.C. Penney. On the way, she propped a soldier on a marble tabletop and another on the counter at a smoothie cart.
The day before, 55 members of the Florida National Guard had returned home. Friday was the funeral for one soldier who didn't. And Homer, without being maudlin, was in a pensive mood: ``I just want this war to end.''
SIMPLE MESSAGE
So do a lot of people. Will the toy soldiers succeed where thousands of war protesters have failed? Staff at the Florida senators' office said they did not field an increase in calls. But the campaign has enormous appeal. It's an example of a tough issue sharpened by simplicity. It also suggests the power of new ways of thinking.
No, college students aren't protesting the way they did in the 1960s, but why can't this quiet way be just as noble? Computers, e-mail and inexpensive printing offer their own modern response to an increasingly mechanized war.
The stealth soldiers also bring something else to this depressing debate: serious whimsy. Years back, a beloved co-conspirator and I blanketed the streets with homemade stickers printed with poetry.
As Homer strolled Dadeland Mall, I got to thinking: What if someone were to buy a pack of toy soldiers? And what if someone were to attach to them, not rational appeals, but lines of verse? Say, perhaps, something from Li Po: So, men are scattered and smeared over the desert grass,/ And the generals have accomplished nothing.
It probably wouldn't end the war. Maybe no one would notice. But it'd be one quiet protest, one sliver of beauty against the enormity of sorrow and destruction.
It's absurd. Someone should do it."
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