Drop out

The Boycott for Equality urges gay and lesbian people to “drop out” of the economy on October 8th to demonstrate our contributions and what would happen if we weren’t there.
First, they call for a boycott of work to impact economic productivity. I’ll already be out that day attending my cousin Kirk’s wedding — ironically, Kirk is a right-of-center moderate who supports equality in marriage. If I wasn’t already going to be out of the office, I wouldn’t follow this one. Simply put, it’s pointless. My employer is not interested in such things as whether the employees are gay or not. That has no impact on how you do your job. Besides, if I called in sick, etc., it wouldn’t make any difference on the economy — I’d still get paid.
Second, withdraw $80 from an ATM. Not gonna happen. I can’t really afford to take out that much cash — sad, I know — and since I will be in Marion, Illinois, I doubt that there will be enough gay people participating there to drain an ATM of it’s cash, one of the goals of this tactic. I should also point out that this act will generate huge profits for the banks, who charge exhorbitant fees to withdraw money from ATMs. Thus, my $80 would not be earning any interest, tiny as it may be, and the banks get a windfall from ATM fees.
Third: withdraw from commerce. Don’t buy anything. Well… when a large family has gathered for a wedding, how easy do you think this would be?
Four: don’t use your cell phone. That might be possible, as I don’t know if Marion has digital service — it’s probably likely that it does, but heck, who am I going to call? Of course, I use my cell phone so rarely that one day without using it is just like any other day.
So, in the end this boycott is either pointless or I am just so far removed from the typical life of a gay person who spends a lot and constantly uses a cell phone. Either way, it’s not making any difference to me, at least.