University of Virginia Library

Fen Montaigne

Bombs In The Shower

I was standing in the shower
and the bombs were falling. I,
like everyone else, was tired of
the war; and I, like everyone
else, wanted to see it end.

I hated the feeling of
impotence, the feeling that
nothing could be done. "Do
something," I thought. "Show
Nixon, and Laird, and the
mixed-up generals in the
Pentagon — show them all that
you've had enough of their
filthy, goddamned war."

But they know that. They
know we hate the war. We
showed them , and we
showed them last May, and the
'conflict' continues. Nixon's
democratic regime ignores
dissent, and student activism is
countered with the question,
"What good will it do?"

If only to sooth my own
conscience, if only to be able to
say that I tried to stop the
killing, I decided to do
something.

I thought, perhaps, that a
fast might be effective. I
conjured up visions of
hundreds (maybe thousands)
of University of Virginia
students and professors, all
fasting to end the in 1970, The
symbolic act, perhaps lasting
one or two weeks, would
attract national television and
national attention. "We just
might touch the hearts of
Nixon and his boys," I
thought. "It just might help."

I talked to many professors,
many students, and was
quickly disillusioned. They all
agreed that the fasters would
greatly benefit from their
experience. The fast would help
to "raise their collective
consciousness," but that was
about all. Not eating would not
reach Nixon.

The this weekend came, and
I was introduced to some
refreshing, perhaps effective,
anti-war tactics. The tactics to
which I refer are the tactics of
being a non-violent nuisance.
The demonstrations I
participated in attempted to jar
and to shock — to bring the war
home with disgusting clarity.

At Monticello Friday, and
at the ROTC review Saturday,
and at the Military Ball
Saturday night, the protesters
attempted to disturb, outrage
and focus attention on those
people directly connected with
the war.

The demonstrators picked
up the filthy war in their
hands, walked over to Tricia
Cox and the ROTC generals
and cadets, and rubbed it in
their faces. They smeared it
around awhile, and made them
confront the war's rotten
stench.

The protesters bothered,
disturbed, and annoyed; and
they will continue to harass
until Nixon and the military
grow weary from all the noise
they're making.

The tactics of annoyance
are more effective than soft,
symbolic action. Nixon will
not listen to anti-war activists
when not eating. Nixon will
only listen to anti-war activists
when they scream so loudly
that he can no longer eat.

And the beauty of these
tactics of annoyance is that
they can be very effective
without being physically
violent. The demonstrators at
the ROTC review staged
grotesque guerrilla theater, held
bloody posters of My-Lai, and
heckled the military's
ceremonies. There was tension
and intellectual violence, but
physical violence was
nonexistent.

This afternoon, at 3, on the
steps of Old Cabell Hall there
will be an anti-war workshop.
The people attending the
meeting will attempt to devise
tactics which may help end the
war.

Then again, our efforts may
be futile, and Nixon may not
listen. But it's worth a try. It is
too easy to do nothing.