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A tiny short story about a couple of very similar looking men I interacted with today, in this deeply red 5th District of NC - home of Virginia Foxx - the difference in them proved startling.
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A couple of months ago, in a snowstorm at midnight, a pickup driver who was going too fast lost control and slammed into my fence and tree, and today, finally, the fence repair crew was here to fix the damage.
The man in charge started to comment favorably on my yard art, and decorations, ( statues made of pitchforks, a birdfeeder made from a rusted shovel, many planters and art objects.. things that make the Democrats in my neighborhood happy and on which Republicans, I swear to God, never comment)
Just for the hell of it, to take his temperature, I pointed to a 5 foot tall Irish cairn I had built of balancing rocks and said: "Every time we have an election, the people who don't like my Democratic yardsigns come around and knock it down. It has not been knocked down in a good while, because they forget."
He:"I really want to know what is wrong with Health Care for everybody".
I perk up and say."Yeah, Health Care in Germany gave my 84 year old mother 18 000 Euros worth of teeth and all she had to worry about is the discomfort."
He:"I listen to that guy Oberman, no "l" in that name, and I really identify with the big one before him, I think his name is Ed. But I'm not political."
Me:"Hmmmm. I'm political, I was born that way, and there is too much going on to keep your head in the sand."
He:"Yeah, I think the country went to hell with Reagan (my ears perk) and I think the best President was Jimmy Carter (now my ears almost fall off) and I can't tell you what I'm living with in the county with the people being so full of hate and they don't even know what "Socialist" means, but I think they think it means colored. And it's terrible about all the Iraqis we killed and how we got lied to."
Me "It's such a gift President Bushes mess was so huge it allowed the country to be mad enough to elect a person of great promise in Obama, even though he is a black man."
He:"That's what that's all about, it ain't about socialism nohow, they don't understand, after all they drive on the streets and get their social security, it's because they are just ignorant".
Me:"Any time you want to rant just ring my doorbell, I think you and I understand each other well, keep watching Olberman, and big Ed, and they will keep you straight, too. And don't you dare to ever say again you are not political. This country needs people just like you to keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground."
He:"I'm glad I met you, I sometimes think I'm so alone in the place where I live and work".
The second man, like I said they almost looked like brothers, was someone who's car doors I was going to letter while he waited. My back yard is even prettier and more serene than the front. I asked him to sit at the wrought iron table, under the umbrella, next to the fountain that was gurgling, and freshly planted geraniums. Lemons were in bloom and putting their wonderful scent in the air, birdfeeders full at a safe distance where cardinals were coming to feed.
I handed him the day's paper. He said:"What should I do with that?" ( I shit you not) I said "maybe read it?" "Oh," he said "I have my lunch to eat".
OK.
He sat. Ate a sandwich with reverie. Leaned back for close to an hour, stared straight out, and then, at the end after the car was done, he asked me for an American Flag decal.
I went into my place and dug around for one, and it was magnetic, and I slapped it on his car. I was thinking about the "brother" from the morning and the difference in the men that was already apparent in how they did or did not notice and appreciate beauty.
And I was so sad, that the patriot I had talked to in the morning would have never asked me to put a flag on his car.
And it infuriated me about Bush all over again. Because that is when that changed from a symbol of love for the country to a symbol of blind and ignorant obedience to dictum.
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