Lloyd went with me to Wal*Mart in the evening. (Side note: It makes such a HUGE difference that it is light out so late. It was 8:30 when we left, and I wasn’t even cranky about it.) On the way out, I asked him to drive by some igloo-shaped things on the back of a semi so we could find out what they were. I was certain they were airplane noses, he was certain they were pig houses.
Well, they were neither. The driver showed us the interior ‘guts’ and told us that they were noses for the giant windmills, and then he talked to us for a good 20 minutes about government (conservative and liberal*), ecology, machismo & feminism and how they are opposite ends of the spectrum – his whole message was about how we need to come together on so many issues- and oddly enough, it wasn’t unpleasant listening to him at all. He had a passionate message about how humans need to stop thinking just about humans. He was a 60-year-old Hispanic man that could do amazing impressions of Ross Perot, southern hicks, George Bush. Best of all – he had Lloyd pegged as a 37-year-old. It was a total delight to meet someone who was so invested in his cargo. He could have just answered, “Windmill noses” and kept on walking.
Godspeed, Juan.
* He was much smarter than I ever will be, but one of his analogies will stick with me. Conservative government is like the male/ father, liberal government is like the female / mother. The mother wants to nurture and care for people, the father wants you to “get off your @$$ and get to work!” “But he’s hungry! Let the boy eat before we send him out there!” – Mother Liberal. “No! He’s already missed the bus. Get going!” – Father Conservative