I have seen seen the future tonite, and this is what it is looking like:

In the light of a Shell station, a man in a chicken suit pulls up alongside four motorcycle cops. The chicken man has a bike rigged with speakers. The speakers begin to blare, “We Are The World” and excitedly the chicken man sings and glad-hands the police. They won’t shake his hand, but they smile and lean on their motorcycles, allowing Chicken man to slap them on the back and sing circles around them.

Many 99%ers hold signs. Among them one reads “we need a maximum wage!” another is handwritten, “I don’t need sex, the government is screwing me every day.”

It is a mix of people: hippies, punks, men in suits, black, brown, white, kids, texting  tweens, jocks, unions, teachers, even a man dressed in tux and tails, sign reading “unemployed composer- more money for the arts!”- there is no kind I do not see. Truckers gladly get stuck in the crowd and allow people to climb up on their rigs. They blare their horns. A band powered by bicycle plays a Led Zeppelin song.

Back at Oscar Grant Plaza there is an old white van, “free tea”. He has been giving out free tea for six years. The van is wood-pannelled inside with bookshelves and plants.

The tea party is no longer serving decaf Lipton. It’s Venezualan Red Ginger Roiibos English Earl of Gray Red Bull Kicked Up Pumpkin Chai baby!