the case of road rage happened during the drive my sister and i took down to richmond shortly after i moved to her house. i was driving and had just pulled into the slow lane when a big diesel pick-up forcibly squeezed in between our car and the car ahead of us. the erratic move confused us both. the truck then slammed on its brakes only to then gun the engine blowing black exhaust right into our grill. jaws dropped, we quickly realized what had just happened. there was a bumper sticker on the truck that read something to the effect of "giving heartburn to the left." so it goes without saying that the truck driver was acting out against our bumper stickers: "obama '08", "IRAQ like Viet Nam only without the humidity" and "Tolerance." not to mention katie's car is an eco-friendly prius. the encounter was startling.
then the other day as katie was driving down the gravel road she noticed the neighbors had an obama sign at the end of their driveway. how nice to think, fellow supporters just up the road. but as she drove past and looked in her rearview mirror she noticed handwriting on the reverse side of the sign. "oh no, that is my sign," she thought. on the way back down the road after she returned from wherever she went, katie stopped and took her sign back. and this is what it read:
when she showed it to me i immediately thought, "huh, terrorists really aren't liars at all." then i noticed the uncommon spelling of muslum; unless the redneck vandal was trying to be clever as with the spelling of peace instead of piece. there was also the quirky looking use of lower-case i's... kenny jr then pointed out that lying was spelled wrong. the next day our sister kaeli came to visit and she pointed out that for some reason they thought americans should be possessive and sheeps shouldn't be. this is blatant evidence that people who would commit such slander have the tendancy to be frightfully uneducated.
i regret to say it but both experiences are enough to make me want to get the hell away from such ignorance and aggression, but then i wouldn't be here. i admire my sister's bravery; she openly advertises her politics in one of the most conservative states. while i had my fair share of scary encounters back in nyc, fascism was not a part of my reality. maybe living outside the liberal bubble for a while will help me keep a broader reality in perspective. how is it that such hatred can dwell in such a beautiful place? virginia is for lovers for godsake!
4 comments:
What timing. I was just reading an article about how Muslim Americans feel that Obama has yet to embrace them.
On another note, you are not alone. I live within that oh, so, liberal bubble, yet I was shocked (and everything else) when a woman, with whom I spend 40 hours a week, burst that bubble during the Oregon primary week. It was evident for whom I would check on the ballot, but I casually inquired about her political participation. "I'm not voting for him. I hear he is linked to Arabs." Here we are, Portland, Oregon, in an interpreting agency, where we are required to be culturally sensitive and geographically aware of cultural differences, and she is telling me he is an A-rab . Wrong and wrong a thousand times.
To save the comment space, it was a shock and it all boils down to "edumacation".
Be careful in that tent, Thea. They get crazy 'round there.
link--http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/us/politics/24muslim.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
And one last thing...I loved the grammar corrections. Mom would be proud.
And...GO'Bama!
There are people who will not vote for him because of his middle name.Come on, there has to be a better reason than that! It should be interesting.
Wow Tess and Thea, troubling tales, all.
Makes me think of a line from a Christian rock song that I can't even remember the writer or name of: we'd rather fight you for things we don't even want, than take what you give that we need. McCain supporters fighting for what they don't really want (lots of affluent baby boomers aging into the senior citizen cohort with a broken healthcare system), and some of Obama's opposition are the ones most in need of what he offers (healthcare alone on a longer list of other ways they stand to benefit.)
The faithful realist in me reacted to the other dangerous myth Thea mentioned - Obama's inevitable election. If it was inevitable, we could all sit back. The possibility that people will sit back and await an inevitable election is as scary to me as the theft and vandalism of Katie's yard sign. Ignorance=inaction, education=action. Equally scary, equally hopeful, to me.
I'm at risk of inaction as much as anyone, so thanks for sharing these tales for a wake up call, and for sharing Katie's bold steps for encouragement.
I buy lunch for the one who can get an Obama yard sign up at the Windy Gap compound! (Dad, you're in the running too.)
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