This afternoon I discovered that I am a lousy Christian. I’ve always sort of known this. But today I found just how deep this vein runs. Here’s the scenario.
I needed to get gas for the LightMobile and I was running on the knife edge of being late for an appointment. I stopped at a gas station. For some reason, best known only to the prince of the powers of the air, the pumps were flashing a sign that said, “Pay cashier before pumping gas.” So I did. I pumped my gas. Just as I finished and climbed into my seat to pull away, a guy in a shiny, expensive Acura backed into the pump in front of me. There was a truck pulled in, waiting, behind me. I had to wait. The guy in the Acura was about 50 and far too proud of his muscles and his wraparound RayBans. He had the gall to wave and nod at me. I did not wave back. I did not think kind and gracious thoughts about him. Then I was late for my appointment. But it had nothing to do with Mr. Musclehead.
Life gets busy around the LightHouse sometimes. We don’t always get to have dinner together. Tonight was one of those nights. LightHusband was late getting home from a meeting and had just enough time to change from his suit to casual clothes and run out the door with LightGirl to her hockey practice. This left LightBoy and I with the opportunity to go out to dinner together. He picked IHOP. Yum. He had a Belgian Waffle with blueberry compote on top and bacon. I had Harvest Grain ‘Nuts pancakes, eggs and sausage.
There were several loud conversations going on around us. Not loud, as in tense. Just loud. As in the people who were having them had big voices and one was sort of forced to listen to them.
One was an early teenager whining and being disrespectful to her mother and generally mean to her younger brother. She was sullen and I was finding it very difficult to have gracious loving thoughts about her. In fact, I was finding it impossible.
The other loudmouth was part of a group. There looked to be a couple with two very young children and then the parents of one of the couple. The loudmouth was the husband/father of the young children. He was dominating the conversation. In the way that no one else seemed to be talking. He seemed to be speaking to the older lady and he spoke in such a way that it looked as though he was talking down to her. I thought that was sort of demeaning, especially since he wasn’t so smart himself. It became clear that he was talking about the current state of affairs between Japan and North Korea and the fact that North Korea had just completed nuclear arms testing. He began holding forth a somewhat simplistic and limited vision of mutually assured destruction. It included this moment of brilliance, “Well, we dropped one, no, two of ’em on Japan and it worked out okay.” I thought to myself, “I wonder what all the Japanese who used to work and live in Hiroshima and Nagasaki might say to that?” I wonder about all the cancer victims and orphans. But I guess it’s all okay because no Americans died and we intimidated the Soviets. I had a bloody tongue by this time. But he continued, completely oblivious to my distress. “Well the Russians knew to leave us alone. The Chinese … they know to leave us alone. We know to leave them alone. It all works out. But these other radicals. There’s no keeping them in one place. They just do what they want. [by this time he was waving his fat arms around … and I was sitting on my hands]” Somehow he had jumped from mutually assured destruction to the war on terror (which is complete fiction) and nuclear war and dealing with terrorists in one large illogical step. I had to leave.
On the other hand, our server was the kindest, most gracious lady I’ve met under those circumstances. She was brilliant. Even with whiny, sullen teenager, she sparkled and shone. It was miraculous. I’m not sure how she did it.
By the way, for every member of the Democratic National Committee who reads this blog: running Hillary Rodham Clinton for president in 2008 will be the biggest mistake in the history of the Democratic Party … bar none. You heard it here first, there is literally not one other person in the party who is so guaranteed to draw out the vote against a Democrat as she is. If you want to guarantee a HUGE Republican turnout in 2008, then run HRC, she’ll be your best bet to get the Republicans out in droves or should I say Roves.
