You had been looking for easy work since daddy had cut your funds and strolling past the bulletin board a want ad had appeared with the tear off strips

It was now time to back up those incensed anti-capitalist exclamations that have been rolling off your lips

Dialing the number listed, the recorded voice explains the time, the marshaling location, the per diem pay and a brief synopsis of the cause

Being a student of history for the last semester, you are prepared to become angry and ignore posted protest laws

Pulling out your dark Gap hoodie and LL Bean lambswool scarf and hoping for a menacing look

Because after all it’s a paying job, free food, and just maybe for once a chance to not be identified as a mook

So you’re ready to “stick it to the man” as the glorious protest anthems from previous decades ring in your ears

The angry mob had already formed as you approach the city square with the hoodie up, face covered and sweating heavily as the time to demonstrate nears

You checked in using the code name assigned, grabbed one of the preprinted protest signs and surged to the front of the mob

Screaming the curses of the oppressed as the aggressor continues to bomb, kill, rape and rob

The speaker was beside himself with rage as his speech was sparking murmurs of upheaval

Spittle was coating the megaphone as he shouted his justification to rebel as the aggressor to his cause was pure evil

It was easy work, the faux anger, the feeling of brotherhood, and at least for while not being society’s outcast

Perhaps you’d found your true calling, you were now somebody at long last

Yelling the oppressed slogans you pushed ahead marching to a new-found drumbeat when suddenly the cops appeared

Summing up that mob courage inspired by your comrades as they taunted and smirked and ignored the orders the area must be cleared

The stand-off lasted only for the ten-minute warning then tear gas canisters filled the air

With blurred vision and burning skin you stumbled your way out of the square

Once back in your nondescript room you pulled your trash can out and continued to barf

And realized the per diem pay didn’t cover the cost of the LL Bean lambswool scarf