OWS's 'NAT-GAT' Wilts In The Philly Heat

Here's the latest from the Occupy Wall Street Nat-Gat (That's occu-speak for National Gathering).

Since the estimated crowd did not materialize, I asked a National Park Ranger if he had seen the Occupiers. He had not.

Pressing on, my search brought me back to the OWS encampment on the grounds of the Quaker Friends Meeting House. The attached video needs little or no narration. This does not appear to be a protest movement with any real focus, ideals, or plans. These are just wanderers.

While inside the camp, I was instructed by this man... an occupier named John, that text message updates would be the best way to stay on top of all of the events and big happenings.

Shortly after texting @natgatphilly to the prescribed number, I started receiving some of the "news flashes" with vital information.

The first message came in at 11:26pm with news of a "Banksleep." This is where a group of people will try to take over the ATM lobby of a bank. In this instance, it was CITIBANK's location at 12th Street and Arch. Curiously, there were no other messages until the next morning. When the OccuKids were told to move all of the cars from the parking lot on the Quaker property... Oh, there was also news about breakfast... 10am?  Isn't that more like Brunch?

The parking lot must have been cleared fairly quickly, because just 15 minutes later, this news was shared:

10 o'clock came and went, but breakfast was not yet being served. At 10:09, another text message was delivered:

The Visioning thing must be very strenuous. Not long after the 11am session, we were alerted that LUNCH would be served soon... However, the lunch menu needed some help.

With the bad news about a bread-less lunch still resounding, the next occu-text offered a glimmer of distraction with the announcement of a softball game between the 99% and the "Tax Dodgers."

The thought of playing softball on one of the hottest days of the year had me worried about the safety of the 99% and then, almost as if on cue, this message pinged my phone:

Food, folks, and fun. What more could you wish for?

From 2:12pm until nearly 4:30 this afternoon, the NATGAT text feed was silent. There was no news on who won the big game between the 99% and the Tax Dodgers... Nothing about the rumored action at the Tea Party meeting. (Pamela Geller was slated to speak and some had talked about disrupting her address.) Silence.

 Then, at 4:24 came news of the "closing ceremonies."

And again at 6:14pm

So much of this hinges on dinner, but there have been no announcements or texts about where and when dinner will happen. What is an occupier to do? Oh, I know, sleep!

Stay tuned. We will share a wrap up of the "closing ceremonies" as we get it.