It was tough going today, but the public came through, as they always do. God Bless America. Its quite a diverse place, the USA. And I guess I only get to see a small segment of it from the passenger seat of random automobiles. Who knows what goes on in the other cars. The families of Latinos, who are yet to squeeze me in amongst their batallions of kids. The middle-aged couples in the Mercedes and the Jeeps who seem to have plenty of room, but accelerate away and pretend they haven't seen me. I think Americans are on the whole a helpful people, but in such a place as this, with millions of strangers and daily news reports of the horrors they commit to one another, its impossible to know who you might be letting into your car. Its a gamble. So I'm incredibly thankful that there are enough punters out there to help me get around. Let me introduce you to today's gamblers:
The Father and Son
Dad was off to work in a satellite city of Charlottesville, just over the border into Georgia, with 10 year old son beside. It was a saturday morning, and he seemed to pick up work wherever he could. The windscreen was smashed and the car beat-up and old. You see a lot more beat-up cars in this country than in Europe. He told me that he had once tried to hitchhike down to Florida, ended up walking to Atlanta. When he wished me luck a couple of exits down, I felt he really meant it.
Ran away and joined the circus
Days before his 16th birthday, he'd fulfilled one of the coolest stereotypes of all time, by running away from home, and spending a year with a travelling circus. That was years ago. Now he was settled down, and off to see his eight-year-old son play football. His son was good, eight sacks for the season. He'd taught him to snap a ball using a soft-toy, and "boy could he snap a ball now." I saw the photo, a little beardless version of his dad, solidly built and strong.
A McCain/Palin Bumper Sticker
A couple of good-ol boys were off to watch college football on TV. They had a big white truck, comfortable. They were old mates, driving along, shooting the breeze, smoking cigarettes. They didn't seem too interested in politics, but I wondered about the sticker. "So you're a McCain supporter?" I asked. "Looks like it might be a tough road from here?"
"Oh, he probably won't win," he told me. "But I don't trust that Obama guy. I still remember what the terrorists said after 9/11. Not to worry about the borders, because the next attack was going to come from inside. I'll always remember that. And with Obama, you just never know..." They dropped me off and pointed out the bar where lots of girls, easy girls, could be found later that night if I was still around.
Joe the Carpenter
A real southerner, with accent and all picked me up. He was a great laugh, and lifted my spirits for the rest of the day. He showed me a photo of his four daughters, and his lady friend. He was a young grandpa. That daughters got three kids, and that one, she's got a couple of mixed-race chil'n. I couldn't understand him all that well. There were stories of love and divorce, that you got to provide for a woman, give her a bed, put food in her belly, and then there's all those nice clothes she wants too. And if you can't provide...
"I'm happy with my lot." he said. "People have been good to me, and I try to help out wherever I can. I mean, we all have our personal problems, but, I do what I can." And he did what he could. I was another 30 miles down the road with a smile on my face.
The Weezer Fans
A lad was celebrating his 25th birthday by going to see his favourite band, Weezer. For company he had his 15 year-old brother. I interupted 'Arrested Development' that they'd been watching on a portable DVD player as they rolled along. We chatted about rock 'n roll and he dreamed of getting on the stage with the band if he could. I wonder if he did.
I got dropped off at a bus stop on the outskirts of Atlanta. Caught a bus full of latinos and blacks. The bus had TVs, advertising some kind of success-guaranteed fitness system, all in Spanish. A post-office employee helped me with directions. We went through miles and miles of suburbs, that never seemed to end. I had arrived in a very big city again.
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