Occupy London

by Tish Mason

I found myself near St Pauls with an hour to spare on Wednesday so I wandered round the Occupy London camp, looking at all the posters posted on the wire fences. I found it peaceful, compassionate and well ordered. There is a kitchen tent, a first aid tent and an information tent with clear pathways between the tents so that anyone can wander around and look at the notice boards.

I particularly liked a poster with two pigeons facing the viewer with a bubble saying 'Occupy London, we do!' I also liked the sign above one of the tents saying 'Compost capitalism'. It seemed to capture in a nutshell the need for an alternative approach to our economy and way of living. One amusing moment occurred when one of the metal fences put up by St Pauls because of health and safety concerns fell over with its sharp metal spikes pointing directly at my head. Several of the protesters leapt to prevent its fall and with cheerful mutters of 'health and safety' attached it to its neighbouring fences again.

No-one asked me to think anything, believe anything, or sign anything. No-one commented or queried the presence of a middle aged woman in a mac with handbag in the camp. In fact there seemed to be a wide range of people passing through and reading the posters. I am sure if I had asked there would have been people willing to explain what was going on but I was left free to make up my own mind - and I was impressed.