The other side of the campaign

The other side of the campaign

When the election campaign began a couple of weeks ago, we
might have viewed the across-city parades with slight amusement,
I know I did. It was amusing to see people with their faces
painted bright colors or with their heads shaved so that what was
left of their hair was shaped into one of the three campaigning
parties' logo.

After a week, that amusement turned to boredom. The thought
that came to mind was: "Don't these people have anything better
to do?"

Two weeks after that, this boredom has turned to anything from
fear of leaving the house to dislike of the campaigning party for
causing such a traffic jam. What seemed to have started out as a
simple drive across towns, with people waving banners of all
sorts, has turned into a show of force. This was definitely the
case in my home town of Bogor.

Imagine, one of my regular trips on a public bus in Bogor
usually takes about twenty minutes. Because of the campaigning,
to travel the same distance took well over an hour and a half.

The weight of traffic allowed the cars to move at only a
crawl. Had I not known better, I would have said snails traveled
faster.

From my personal experience, even a leisurely walk around the
Botanical Gardens only lasts an hour. "Why," one might logically
ask, "not simply walk to where you're going, instead of sitting
idly on the public transportation?"

A very good question indeed, which requires a good answer. The
answer is simply that walking might prove more hazardous to the
health than staying in the vehicle.

Why is it more dangerous? Isn't walking the safest form of
exercise? Yes, provided you do the walking at a safe distance
from the campaign. Walking in the middle of a political parade,
however, might result in some serious threats.

For example, you can get kicked by a dangling foot of one of
the fanatics who feels superior sitting way up on a truck, or get
hit by a flying bottle (consider yourself lucky if the bottle is
just an empty, plastic mineral water bottle) thrown by fanatics
who have no respect whatsoever for the environment, much less for
the safety of the innocent bystanders.

Another thing that might happen, less physical but annoying
just the same, is having somebody shout in your face just because
you refuse to hold up a certain number of fingers.

Nevertheless, we must give these die-hard fanatics credit.
Imagine, they're willing to risk skin cancer just for a parade
across the town under the blazing sun. Some were willing to
sacrifice their lives for the sake of the campaign.

Are these people completely useless? No, not at all, I didn't
say that. At least I got something out of it. I think I managed
to shed a pound or two of sweat on the public bus while stuck in
the traffic jam for an hour and a half accompanied by shrieking
sirens, blaring horns, and people bellowing under the burning
sun. But then again, one does not have to wait for the next
campaign to lose some weight.

LAILA F. FAISAL

Bogor, West Java