I've decided as a free thinker (liberal to republicans-Tea Baggers) that to survive in St.George, Utah, I must have a forum in which to vent. The following are events as they happened Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010.
I'm sitting at my doctor's office (technically a nurse practitioner's office, and no, don't assume that the nurse is a woman, even though she is). Since I'm a product of this community, I know that sexism runs deep in St. George, as it does with the Coca Cola Company. (My opinion only, Coke, you can't sue me for my opinion.) You see, when Coca Cola decided to produce a drink similar to Dr. Pepper, they made the assumption that Dr. Pepper was a man and therefore named their knock off product "Mr. Pibb". If they weren't sexist and their marketing department didn't think the United States was sexist, they would have named the drink "Mrs. Pibb."
Of course, it's always dangerous to assume anything, as my high school Coach/English teacher wrote on the chalk board the first day of class my sophomore year, "Don't "ASSUME" anything", because if you do, it will only make an ASS out of U and ME (ASS/U/ME). Yes, I did go to high school in the '70s and even graduated! I know that society has evolved greatly since then, so here's the modern day interpretation of ASSUME. To assume some thing, you'd only make an ASS out of UME. UME is more than likely a terrorist of middle eastern decent trying to raise funds for the mosque at ground zero. Or maybe that's just how they would view the name UME in ST. GEORGE!
Well, so much for my attempt at humor.
Anyway, there I was, sitting in the nurse practitioner's waiting area when a couple in their eighties comes in(yes, they bragged about their age; in fact, they stated they were in their eighties and went on to say, "We're too old to work, but too young to die!") The gentleman came over to the table holding the magazines next to me and asked, "Is there anything good to read over here?" I replied, "Well, if you want to find out what's going to happen with the elections a week ago, then TIME is your magazine." The gentleman chuckled and said, "You've gotta be happy with how the elections came out!" Trying to be courteous, I simply said, "I think there's a lot of happy people out there right now." and left it at that.
When the gentleman sat down next to whom was obviously the love of his life, she looked at me and said, "Can you believe Obama is spending $200 million a day to go to India?" Now I know they're Glenn Beck fans and are open to believing anything sputtered out of his mouth. Again, I bite my tongue, which you have to do in St.George at work, the grocery store, in bed (ah, sorry, different sort of tongue action), and so on. Eventually, the frustration builds up, that of not feeling as though you can a challenge this misinformation publicly. So, once again, trying to be courteous and keep public tension from being too high, I looked at the elderly gentleman and said, "So what did you do for a living?" As it turns out, he was a game warden for the federal government regulating streams that run through military bases and, as he put it, "Indian Reservations." (Another sore subject for us liberal Atheist progressionists.) We didn't converse long before his wife went on to complain that neither his retirement fund nor social security gave them a raise this year. (Maybe we should go ahead a give all the retirees a raise and increase the federal deficit further, God damn Obama.) Once again, I bit my tongue!
After that, I was agitated to the point of breaking my unspoken vow to remain civil.
Next, I went to get my brakes replaced on my not-so-liberal car. I knew I'd be there for at least an hour, so I took my new read, "Broke", by Glenn Beck. As I'm sitting there highlighting sections and writing side notes, a gal enters the waiting room with her son and we instantly recognized one another, but were unsure as to exactly how. Finally, after a few minutes of mild conversation, my 49-year-old mind figured it out: she had tried to sell me some ridiculously priced, multilevel marketed health supplements at the Senior Games, at which I had previously volunteered. As I mentioned the epiphany in regards to our connection, she noticed I was reading, as she put it, "Glenn Beck, my favorite person in the world!"
Having bit my tongue as much as I could manage throughout the day, coupled with the fact that the product she was selling at the Senior Games had no real science behind it (and I hate multilevel marketing), I chose to let her know that I was not a fan of Glenn Beck and I was reading it for the opposite reasons she would, subsequently adding that I'm "a real liberal."
With that, she looked at me and asked, "Do you believe in the constitution?" To that I replied, "Yes, and all the amendments, especially the fourteenth." Looking directly into her eyes, I proceeded to say, "So, do you believe in civil rights?" To that, she answered, "That depends on how you interpret the constitution." I simply replied, "Do you believe that all American citizens are entitled to equal rights under law, or do you prefer to pick and choose those you believe to deserve civil rights?" To that, she dared not answer, for she knew she was wrong. I went on to say that all Americans deserve the same rights, especially those of the gay community, as they are by far the most oppressed community right now, and should have the right to marry, to have their spouses recognized in the same light as straight couples."
She turned to the cashier, abruptly abandoning the conversation and proceeded with her payment for services rendered. As it turns out, multilevel marketed ineffective products must not be too profitable, because she was $11 short of being able to pay her bill. I piped up from my chair, "The liberal Atheist will cover the $11 for her." She looks at me as said, "You're really not an Atheist, are you?" I responded, "Of course I am, what else can you be?"
Well, as I've been told before when donating time and money to a cause represented by religion, "God can bless people, even through Atheists." How nice of her to inform me.
With that, the lady left and I proceeded to pay my bill. The clerk said, "You know why she was mad don't you?" as she proceeded to answer her own question, "'Cause she's Mormon."
Now, while I disagree with Mormons on nearly every front, I do believe that it's easy to help those who agree with you and your philosophy, but to help someone who is on the opposite end of the spectrum is true giving.
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