A member of the War Resisters League has come to visit the university town where I live

[struggle4progress]

It's the middle of the Reagan era, and we're looking for ideas

A church allows meeting space for the event. Turn-out isn't bad: perhaps a hundred locals show

David tells us a story from his days organizing against the Vietnam war:

He'd gone to New York back then for a radio debate; an angry rightwinger represented the opposite side

They made their separate cases on air for an hour or so

Then the program was over, and David realized he still had hours and hours before his bus

He approached his opponent and learned the man also had come to town only for the broadcast

So David suggested they could go chat over coffee while they waited for their trips back home

He tells our little crowd that the fellow seemed surprised but agreed. He says they didn't discuss the war further but just talked until time came to leave the city

In conclusion, David adds that several days later, he received a letter: The whole time I was in New York, you're the only person that treated me like a human being