You Can't Take Me Anywhere

This evening The Man decided to go walk along the pier. "Fine," I said, since I had
no intention of joining him. I usually go along, but tonight I thought not. After all,
I'd had a massive swim at the pool and had, after all, fixed dinner, and had, after all,
fed the fish, and had, after all, watered the pots. I after-alled out of going.

But, then I waited...and waited...and waited. He didn't come home. Where was he?
Did he fall down in a ditch? Did he stumble off the pier and drown? Did he get lost?
Did he get hit by a jet ski? Did aliens abduct him?

I mean, I was at a loss. I began to panic. He was out of my sight for thirty minutes
and there I was gasping for air thinking he must be dead and that I had nothing to
wear to the funeral except for an excellent pair of black Earth shoes that are really
just to die for.

I decided to go out and rescue him. I jumped up from the computer and jumped
onto my bicycle, neglecting to put on my shoes...or anyone's shoes, for that matter,
since this was an emergency!

Yes, I left the house on two wheels and shoeless...but, I figured that this was okay
since this is Lime Plant City and I had just polished my toenails this very afternoon.

I peeled down to the breakwater, running the stop sign, looking for The Man. He wasn't
lying along the side of the road. I couldn't see him thrashing about in the lake. I didn't
see any evidence of police intervention at the local bait shop. But, then, just as I was
about to head out onto the pier, there he was, sitting on a bench along the water's edge,
talking to a friend.

And, that's kinda when all hell broke loose.

You see, this friend is a right-wing, Fox News disciple, studying up for his final exam to join
the heavenly angels of racially-bigoted-hated-filled-close-the-borders-gimme-my-social-
security brotherhood.

I didn't know this when he told me to sit down and join the conversation. But, I will
say that I'd just left the house after reading all kinds of bad news on Alternet.com...which
tells you a little about where I was coming from when I sat down with this NUT CASE!

So, there we were...sitting lakeside, enjoying the late-summer tranquility and a few
mosquitoes, chit-chatting about my bare feet.

Then, somebody mentioned "healthcare."

Then, hell'th took over.

We got into it.

I don't know. Maybe it was the glasses of wine I'd had with dinner. Maybe it was the fact
that I'm doomed tomorrow because I'm going in for a much belated wisdom tooth extraction.
I don't know. But, whatever it was, something in me snapped. I got mad. Real mad.

I decided not to just smile and go "Hmmm. Uh huh..." to all the visceral garbage this guy
was spewing out. I decided to fight.

Later, The Man said I needed to work on my delivery. He's probably right. I did get a
little heated. But, I was steaming mad and let it fly. I couldn't help myself. I'm just so
sick, so sick, so sick of the racism and bigotry and fear and hatred I keep hearing from
uneducated people who can only spout out slogans and repeat sound bites they hear on Fox.

Listen, if you want to impress me, if you want me to listen, be original, okay?

Give me thoughtful countenance, not regurgitation!

Now I'm thinking I've ruined a friendship. I don't feel apologetic at all, though. I just
feel sad and miserable. I'm sad because I live here with nimrods, and I'm miserable
because I don't know where to go to escape them.

Not that I'm Dagney Taggert...but, Who is John Galt? And, more importantly, where
is Galt's Gulch. I need to go there.

I can't really remember the plot of Atlas Shrugged, but I do remember the mindless,
weakness of the people. And, that's what I feel now. And, that's why I got mad. And,
that's why I couldn't just shut up and go, "Hmmm...Uh huh..."

I'm really starting to worry. I'm really starting to think I'm living in an insane world.

And, let me tell you, if I'm starting to feel this way, it's a bad situation because I am
not an innovator, I am a reflector. I reflect what's going on. I'm representative of
the status quo. And, if the status quo is this screwed up, we're in for it.

I feel so sad.

I will continue thinking about this as I go under the knife tomorrow morning
at 9:45, at my oral surgeon's office, where they want a $300 deposit before they'll
do anything, in spite of the fact that I have dental insurance!!!