That Mess It Don't Get No Better

I was taking the girls to Girl Scout summer day camp yesterday and was stuck in slow traffic on Mopac.  I heard a little 'honk' and turned to the side.  This little Nissan Truck had a picture on the driver's side window.  It was the picture of Obama in clown makeup (I think made up to look like Heath Ledger's Joker from the last Batman movie) with the word "Socialist" under it. 

I was a bit confused.  My lane moved ahead and I looked back.  The picture wasn't there anymore.  When his lane moved up and he was next to me again, there it was.  Apparently, he had it on some kind of roller that he could pull up and down.  And since I still have my "Obama / Biden" bumper sticker on my car, I guess he thought I might enjoy repeated viewings of his political statement.

The picture itself is vaguely racist, certainly disrespectful, and above all ignorant.  I'm not sure how making Obama look look an anarchist character proves the point that he is a socialist, which he actually isn't.  I think the thing that was the most disturbing is that this racist, disrespectful, jackass was out driving around trying to provoke people.  Lovely.

Oddly, though, I wasn't angry.  Sad maybe.  And perhaps a little dissappointed (that's the dad in me).  I nodded at him to say "How's it going?"  This wasn't the reaction he had sought, so he pulled next to me and showed his picture three more times.  I smiled and looked forward.  Eventually, he tired and moved off to find someone else to annoy.

When I saw Jill, I told her about this interaction.  I told her "that mess it don't get better.  There's gonna come a day.  Someone's gonna get killed out there."

She turned to me and said "Texas."

I said "What?"

She said "Texas."

I said "What?"

Sorry.  Had to do a Chris Rea shout out.

I let it go.  I'm (trying to be) a zen driver.

But you see, my other bumper sticker is "Marathon kids," celebrating how the girls finished a marathon (over the course of the year).

A Corolla pulled next to me today and this woman pulled down a rolling sign that had the picture of two obese children.

I ran the bitch off the road.