January 16, 1991
Dear Diary,
I have to tell you something really weird! WAR has broke out. My friends and I are turning into hippies and having protests. Well, kind of, but this is NO JOKE. Some people may die! I don’t think I’ll be writing for a long time so take care. I love u. PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (seriously).
Love,
Lesley
September 16, 2002
Tell a sixth-grader that there’s a war and all of a sudden they think bomb shelters and Woodstock. At the time, I had no idea why we were at war with Iraq or what it even meant, just that we were so bored we hoped it would affect us in some way. Of course, it did not. All we learned was how to master the art of drawing peace signs in bubble letters. I remember this one kid, Evan David (AKA “the boy with two first names”) decided to lead a protest during fifth period. This meant trying to organize the whole school to walk out in the middle of class. The problem was that 90% of the school were too scared and thought they’d get in too much trouble. I vaguely remember Evan walking down the halls shouting, “Come on everyone! Let’s do this!” but everyone just stared and he ended up getting detention. He later sold T-shirts that had a cartoon of Saddam shoving a missile up a camel’s ass (was that for or against the war?). They were $10 each. I bought one but I hid it from my mom because I thought she’d get mad. Eventually she found it and laughed her ass off.
