I’m driving the lead truck again this time for the ANSWER LA antiwar march and rally in Hollywood on March 18, having done it numerous times before.
The lead truck, which leads the march, is a big flatbed truck with sound equipment, microphones, bullhorns, with organizers starting chants for marchers to participate in.
Last March we were photographed by the Pentagon, for reasons known only to their befuddled little brains, during our march last year in the same location. Our policy of holding meetings in public and posting what we’re doing on our website must have confused them, thus they felt the need to spy on us.
This time, I’m putting a sign on on the lead truck driver’s side door – “Pentagon spies. Yell when when you need a photo so I can smile.”
This time, the truck will have an automatic transmission and no air brakes. Last March, through a mixup, the truck had air brakes and a manual transmission. Lemme tell you, driving a big truck 3 miles a hour with fifteen people on the back while trying to learn how to use air brakes was, um, real on the job training, yes it was.
For anyone who might need instruction in this arcane art of driving the lead truck in a big demonstration, here’s how. Put it in the lowest gear possible. That’ll be about walking speed. Be prepared for lots of stops as the march slows down, speeds up, and police and organizers run around doing stuff. A march has a mind of its own, go with it, not against it. Most important, remember, you aren’t leading the march, the march is leading the march.
Besides, it’s not often you get to drive a big truck down the streets of L.A. with thousands behind you, while LAPD clears the way and media helicopters are in the air.