shopping with socialists

so there's a street in vienna called "mariahilfer strasse" that is, i'm guessing, more than a mile of stores and boutiques offering everything imaginable. not being an avid or enthusiastic shopper, i was reluctant to check it out, but knew that it might be my one-stop shop for clothes, groceries and whatnot.
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i made the mistake of going on a sunny saturday afternoon. for those of you who don't know me as well, i get a little anxious being in crowds of people who are all on a mission (i.e., places like crowded sidewalks, shopping malls, the bank, amusement parks, etc.), and BOY were these people on a mission. if i had stretched out my arms, i could have easily touched about eight people - there were that many people on the sidewalk, bumping into each other and jostling each others' dogs and baby carriages. i tried, i tell you, i tried to stay with the crowd as long as i could, and stopped for a breather at gelatto places and quiet bookstores.

while shopping today, i ran into an oompah band in traditional austrian garb. they had been playing for a while, and didn't look very amused to be marching down vienna's shopping mile, but i - the tourist with a camera - took their picture anyway.



later on in the day, after a good three hours of window shopping and tourist-dodging, i treated myself to a gelatto cone of coconut & hazelnut flavors and collapsed against a tree. just in time, since i heard a loud group of people from up the street yelling and drumming in rhythm. as the crowd got closer, i recognized their sea of red flags and "revolution" stickers: this was a demonstration by the socialists. it makes sense, since the austrian national elections are tomorrow and the SPÖ is one of the groups trying to get votes (SPÖ = Socialistdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or Social-Democratic Party of Austria). i snapped a couple of pictures of the demonstration, and caught a little boy walking with his mother holding a red SPÖ balloon on a string.



as i walked further, at the same pace of the demonstrators, i began to listen more carefully to their various chants - some of which were in english, but most of which were in the austrian german that i sometimes can't recognize. "Re. Vo. Lu. Tion." was one of the first, and i smiled and walked happily alongside them on the sidewalk, amused by the confused faces of passersby. i probably identify with socialist politics more than many other forms, and their chants and drums were energizing.



the tone changed for me, though, as i heard "No. No. U.S.A.". how strange, i thought, to be an american woman walking along vienna's shopping street in 2006, hearing her home country being verbally bashed for the sake of local politics. "George. Bush. Te.rro.rist." came next, and i could only agree with the crowd, holding their red "revolution" signs and handing out bright red socialist balloons to young people. if we are going to make change in the world, we need a revolution - not necessarily socialist, but humanitarian. even if the global revolutionary changes start within local austrian politics, on local streets such as mariahilfer strasse, it could make a difference.