"I Went Down to the Demonstration"

“I went down to the demonstration”

This one goes back to the old floor. Protestors were always drawn to the Equity floor entrance on Pine street. The big pillars made it a better photo op. Belly of the Beast and all that. I don’t think they even knew about the Options floor at that time. It had to be the early Eighties. We had heard the demonstrators were there during the trading day. I was standing outside after the close. Maybe about fifty demonstrators were on Pine Street. There was a hard core that crowded around the door. I heard a couple of them yell, “We’re going in!” They rushed the door. After about a minute they came FLYING out. It was like a scene in a slapstick comedy. They were trying to enter just at the close when traders would be leaving through those doors. They made the mistake of trying to block traders leaving the floor for the day. Big mistake.

The demonstrators regrouped outside. They had expected the guards to react, but they hadn’t anticipated getting their butts kicked by “the stock brokers.” They recognized some of the traders who had just tossed them out the door. There were vague threats. “We’ll be back!” Bob Sandmeir assured them that “We’ll be here EVERY day!” I don’t remember them coming back.

Eventually they did learn about the Options floor and the capitalistic excesses that were committed there daily. I think a former floor employee tipped them off. There were other demonstrations, usually around Earth Day.

I had gone to an Earth Day celebration near the Marina on Crissy Field. I saw fliers encouraging people to show up at the PSE the next morning to demonstrate. I had long hair at the time. “Will you be there tomorrow?” one guy asked me. “Oh yeah, I’m sure I’ll be there tomorrow,” I told him. I remember wondering how many would show up at the ungodly hour that we started at.

I can’t remember exactly what was going on, but I had more than the usual motivation in making the opening that day. Maybe it was a takeover or something, but I HAD to be in for the opening. The Exchange had arranged to open a side door that was usually used for deliveries. It was hoped members and employees could slip in through that door. By the time I arrived, the demonstrators had figured it out and there was a crowd of people trying to block that door.

Again, I “didn’t look like a stockbroker” then. I just acted like I was a part of the demonstration and slowly worked my way to the entrance. This almost worked, but just as I got close, a couple of demonstrators realized what I was trying to do and linked arms to try and stop me from getting in. I bashed my way through them. Here my strategy backfired. There were some Exchange officials, SFPD and I think some private security guards standing near the door. The security just saw me as a demonstrator trying to push my way in. They were ready to pummel me. Dave the Guard jumped in just in time yelling “He’s all right!”

“Does he have a badge?” one of the security guards asked. They were still a little suspicious. Oh yeah, right here. It was the badge that said World Commander on it, so they had their doubts again. Kim Koppein assured them that yes, believe it or not, “He’s a member,” and I was allowed in.