A Pleasant Surprise
11/27/07 11:52
I went to see the mattress man yesterday. He's a
skinny, little, gray-haired dude, looks to be in his
early sixties, who sits at a desk in the middle of
his (usually empty) mattress store reading the bible
to pass the time. Upon my entering the store, he
raised his eyes from the bible and I was met with a
piercing gaze over the top of his of wire-frame
glasses. He looks like a high school history teacher
about to chew out the slacker who has just shown up
late again. Like the good liberal I am, I try not to
make assumptions about people based on their
appearance, but what with the bible, and the glare,
and this being red state Misery, I figured the
mattress man and I didn't have much in common. Wrong.
During the course of our mattress discussions, the conversation drifted to the empty storefronts in the strip mall adjacent to his mattress store, and from there to all the brand-new, unsold houses in the area. Then I said something about how I felt there were some tough times ahead for America. And he went off.
Our conversation pretty much ceased, as, for the next 15 minutes or so, he gave dubya and his enablers such a verbal beat-down that all I could do was land a few metaphorical kicks to their ribs when he paused to take a breath. He touched on all the high points: oil and empire; corporate greed and lobbyists; bankruptcy law and predatory lending practices; globalization and the death of unions and the middle class. And of course, Iraq and the War on Terra. It was quite a performance, with lots of arm waving and pacing about and advocating for a second American revolution. I wish I could have taped it and put it on YouTube.
A man who looked to me like a retired history teacher turned out to be an aged warrior, drafted in the '60s, given a modicum of training and a rifle and shipped off to the jungles of Vietnam. And he's still pissed about it. Along with my receipt for a new mattress and box springs, I left there with a big grin on my face and a little bit more hope for America. It's refreshing to know that there really are religious people out there who can look past the obfuscation about abortion and fags getting married, and see that our government has taken this country off the rails.
During the course of our mattress discussions, the conversation drifted to the empty storefronts in the strip mall adjacent to his mattress store, and from there to all the brand-new, unsold houses in the area. Then I said something about how I felt there were some tough times ahead for America. And he went off.
Our conversation pretty much ceased, as, for the next 15 minutes or so, he gave dubya and his enablers such a verbal beat-down that all I could do was land a few metaphorical kicks to their ribs when he paused to take a breath. He touched on all the high points: oil and empire; corporate greed and lobbyists; bankruptcy law and predatory lending practices; globalization and the death of unions and the middle class. And of course, Iraq and the War on Terra. It was quite a performance, with lots of arm waving and pacing about and advocating for a second American revolution. I wish I could have taped it and put it on YouTube.
A man who looked to me like a retired history teacher turned out to be an aged warrior, drafted in the '60s, given a modicum of training and a rifle and shipped off to the jungles of Vietnam. And he's still pissed about it. Along with my receipt for a new mattress and box springs, I left there with a big grin on my face and a little bit more hope for America. It's refreshing to know that there really are religious people out there who can look past the obfuscation about abortion and fags getting married, and see that our government has taken this country off the rails.
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