The Gassy Protestor

Apologies for being a negligent blogger this past week. I've moved out of one place and into another (post to follow about why) and yesterday I participated in Occupy's May 1st General Strike.

The strike might have been my most fun, rewarding day of 2012 yet. There's nothing like being with ten thousand other people and busting through a police line to remind yourself that no matter how much money and power can oppress you, when you have the power of the people on your side, you cannot be stopped.

It was also exhausting though. I was on my feet for about 14 hours and estimate that I walked (or "marched") somewhere between a half marathon and a full marathon over the course of various actions. I'll post a full write up of the day soon, but in the meantime, here's a funny anecdote:

Since part of the strike was to buy nothing, I shopped the night before for on-the-go food to throw in my backpack. I was going to get granola bars, but then I spotted fiber bars and thought, "Hmm, I probably don't get enough fiber in my diet."

In a short span yesterday, I then ate four high-fiber bars and figured I had a great poop coming later in the night. Instead, my stomach tossed and turned and I couldn't figure out how to settle it. Then things got gassy. Insanely gassy. Granted they were wimpy farts, but incessant all the same. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my body.

Later I looked at the packaging and saw this warning: "NEW USERS: Increase your fiber intake gradually. Gastrointestinal discomfort may occur until your body adjusts." So basically I OD-ed on fiber and made myself sick. I ate well over the recommended amount of fiber for even a regular fiber eater, and now "discomfort" was an understatement. But I pushed through anyway because activists can't quit because of a little gastrointestinal problem.