I stop at another rest stop on I-80, delighted with it’s very lush vegetation, thick green grass and several trees, a small but beautiful trail, and the best brand new toilets!
Standing and stretching beside my truck, a young fellow, David, hovering by his new jeep, announces: “I’m voting for bush.”
I feign shock but not. Horror, yes, when he reveals he’s jewish, late 20’s maybe, beautiful smile.
“Why?” I muster all the curiosity I can while hopefully masking my dismay at his betrayal of our race.
“I have two businesses that have flourished since bush took office ,” he brags. “Under Clinton, I was struggling; under Bush, I’ve thrived.” Juice bars no less!
“Oh,” I primly retort, grabbing his hand in a firm shake. “So you’re part of the haves and have mores that make up bush’s base.”
He fixes me with a hard stare. “I have not seen Fahrenheit 9/11 – I lost a cousin in the towers and I just can’t look at it.”
I understand, I can’t look at holocaust movies either.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I murmur, my hand now moving up to touch his arm.
We then talk about the democratic governor of New Jersey. David has a litany of faults and crimes the man has committed. I know nothing about the governor but I do know about seeking out the truth in what we hear and read. We talk about that so I can circle back to informing ourselves as much as possible before we believe something.
Before we part I ask him to reconsider watching F 9/11 so he doesn’t miss some of that informing ourselves especially given his personal loss, but even more importantly, to consider NOT voting for bush. I urge him to not forget about the rest of us, just because he’s doing well.
I offer him some codepink information and a couple of quarter page fact sheets, which he takes willingly.
A tall, younger white womon is patiently waiting at the side of the truck for us to finish our conversation. She approaches me as he leaves and asks if she can take pictures of my truck that she loves.
Manda tells me she is from Colorado and she teaches so she wants to make a democracy lesson for her students. She says she lives in a very liberal part of Colorado – all her friends and acquaintances view bush supporters as the uneducated and undereducated, making eyes over her shoulder at David – which reminds me of the great red, white and blue bumper sticker I saw “One nation, under-educated”!
We talk about whether Colorado is a swing state – she thinks it is but she has hope it’ll go for Kerry!
I don’t share my hopes with her…
