Here's a quote from a government employee who witnessed a recent interaction between an elderly woman and an antiwar protester in a Metro station in DC . There were protesters on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils of America ... I politely declined to take one. An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young (20-ish) female protester offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined. The young protester put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, 'Lady, don't you care about the children of Iraq?' The old woman looked up at her and said, 'Honey, my father died in France during World War II, I lost my husband in Korea , and a son in Vietnam . All three died so you could have the right to stand here and bad mouth our country. If you touch me again, I'll stick this umbrella up your butt and open it.'
I knew this sounded familiar... Home --> Politics --> War/Anti-War --> Old Lady and Umbrella Old Lady and Umbrella Claim: Old lady offered an anti-war pamphlet offers to shove her umbrella up an anti-war protester's ass. Status: Undetermined. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003] To nobody's surprise there were protestors today in DC, they attempted to disrupt the metro system and block the Key Bridge, a leading artery into DC from Northern Virginia. I got hosed twice because I come in from NoVA [Northern Virginia] on the metro and it is raining hard which makes traffic worse anyway...to the point — I got off my train in Rosslyn because I had to use the bathroom. When I was getting back on the train, there were protestors on the train platform handing out pamphlets on the evils of America. I politely declined to take one. An elderly woman was behind me getting off the escalator and a young (20ish) female protestor offered her a pamphlet, which she politely declined. The young protestor put her hand on the old woman's shoulder as a gesture of friendship and in a very soft voice said, "Ma'am, don't you care about the children of Iraq?" The old woman looked up at her and said, "Honey, my first husband died in France during World War II so you could have the right to stand here and bad mouth your country. And if you touch me again, I'll stick this umbrella up your ass and open it." I'm glad to report that loud applause broke out among the onlookers and the young protestor was at a total loss for words. Origins: This tale about a wizened old lady standing up to the pushy anti-war protestor first landed in our inbox on 27 March 2003. Some versions we've received identify the author as "an Army captain stationed in Washington, DC," but others don't provide even that much of an attribution. At this point, the authorship of the piece is unknown. Did the events as described actually take place? Well, they might have. Then again, this account of a feisty war widow's response to anti-war protestors could just be someone's attempt to express in story form how that person feels about those who oppose the war in Iraq. Let's look at what little is known. On 20 March 2003, war protesters blocked rush-hour traffic on the Key Bridge, one of the main bridges between Northern Virginia and Washington, closing the span for about 30 minutes. The protests began shortly after 8 a.m. in Rosslyn and continued throughout the day. Although news accounts we examined failed to mention anything about protestors handing out pamphlets, that does not mean those involved in the event were not providing literature to passersby. Yet that something could have happened does not mean that it did happen. One point in the account does give us especial pause — the author speaks of getting off his train in Rosslyn because he had to use the bathroom. Those familiar with the station at Rosslyn point out there are no public washrooms in that facility. Even so, for now let's place this one in the "possibly apocryphal" category and leave it at that. Barbara "bumbershooter" Mikkelson Last updated: 16 October 2007 The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/oldlady.asp Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2008 by snopes.com.
It's a humorous story whether factual or not. I should have just edited out the introduction. Can't you just laugh at something?
I'm not sure what the war in Korea or Vietnam has to do with protecting our civil liberties. Can someone explain that connection?
The humor was lost on me, probably because my dad has e-mailed me the same joke for the past three or four years...as well as a bunch of other conservative jokes that I guess are supposed to make me tear up and thank God that war protesters are being put in their place.
If there were more war protesters that like this young lady around in the early 60s, maybe that elderly woman's son would still be around. Oh well.
This is a classic giddyupism. Call a polemic or an insult a 'joke' and then try and act like you don't understand and accuse people of being political when they are offended.
That's not even remotely what is going on. I just thought it was a funny little story with a kind of outrageous end. I'm not trying to pass it on as some actual event. I just thought it was kind of funny. Lord knows I've had to endure a lot of humor aimed at Bush-- I've even posted some of it myself. I didn't accuse anyone of being political; I accused them of trying to mitigate the humor by trying to investigate the fact or fiction of the story... which is something that hadn't even crossed my mind.
