doing grandma b proud!!!
Here I am in Iowa – and the REST STOPS have wireless internet connect! And it’s FREE! And I even figured out how to connect! My Grandma B (my dad’s mom) would be soooooo proud! (see previous entries re:iowa-ians & their rest stops!) Once again, Iowa is on the cutting edge!
Packing up my computer, heading to my truck I notice an older white woman, long blond hair, dull blue eyes, striding toward me. She demands to know if this is my truck & did I paint it. I claimed responsibility for the truck, the paint job, the words.
She told me “my son went to Iraq & died so you could have the right to paint these words on your truck.” I told her how sorry I was that her son was killed. Then I told her how sorry I was that her son was killed because we have a president who lied to him, to her, to all of us. I told her that her son did not die so I could have the right to paint my truck but he died because we have a president who lies.
She vehemently disagreed with me. I asked her if she knew about Gold Star Families for Peace, Cindy Sheehan. She dismissed all that with a casual wave of her hand, lumping it all together with her daughter who is in D.C. & has tried to talk to her too. But we’re all wrong, she insisted – I’m free to paint this on my truck & to drive freely around this country – not how it would be in Iraq.
I told her how free I am – how I’m subjected to name-calling at best, threats, slashed tires, truckers who try to run me off the road, white men who make obscene gestures & follow me around – is this what she means by freedom?
I tell her I am free to paint this on my truck because many, many, many brave people – mostly black & brown, & lots of white women and several white men – have fought for our rights & continue to fight.
She pulled the founding fathers card – this country was built on the search for freedom – I said no, this country was built on the genocide of the original people who lived here.
She told me I didn’t have to tell her about that – she was Cherokee – I step closer to her blond self & look deep into those washed-out blue eyes and tell her as quietly as I can “then you know the truth”.
She turns on her heel & stalks off toward the semi she’s driving.
Welcome to Iowa.
Packing up my computer, heading to my truck I notice an older white woman, long blond hair, dull blue eyes, striding toward me. She demands to know if this is my truck & did I paint it. I claimed responsibility for the truck, the paint job, the words.
She told me “my son went to Iraq & died so you could have the right to paint these words on your truck.” I told her how sorry I was that her son was killed. Then I told her how sorry I was that her son was killed because we have a president who lied to him, to her, to all of us. I told her that her son did not die so I could have the right to paint my truck but he died because we have a president who lies.
She vehemently disagreed with me. I asked her if she knew about Gold Star Families for Peace, Cindy Sheehan. She dismissed all that with a casual wave of her hand, lumping it all together with her daughter who is in D.C. & has tried to talk to her too. But we’re all wrong, she insisted – I’m free to paint this on my truck & to drive freely around this country – not how it would be in Iraq.
I told her how free I am – how I’m subjected to name-calling at best, threats, slashed tires, truckers who try to run me off the road, white men who make obscene gestures & follow me around – is this what she means by freedom?
I tell her I am free to paint this on my truck because many, many, many brave people – mostly black & brown, & lots of white women and several white men – have fought for our rights & continue to fight.
She pulled the founding fathers card – this country was built on the search for freedom – I said no, this country was built on the genocide of the original people who lived here.
She told me I didn’t have to tell her about that – she was Cherokee – I step closer to her blond self & look deep into those washed-out blue eyes and tell her as quietly as I can “then you know the truth”.
She turns on her heel & stalks off toward the semi she’s driving.
Welcome to Iowa.
posted by Xan @ 8:06 PM
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