The Anger Is Palpable

Back onto politics folks, and this time I have a personal story to go along with it.

It's no secret that I support Barack Obama. I have an "Obama '08" bumper sticker on my car. That doesn't make me a bad person. Nor does supporting McCain and/or Palin make someone a bad person. But I'll tell you what does make someone a bad person. Terrorizing other drivers on the freeway.

Yesterday evening I was driving up to my yoga class in Orange County. I was on the 5 (yes, we preface all freeways with "the", like "the 405" or "the 110"), somewhere in San Clemente, doing my usual loud singing while driving. Specifically "Hero" by Mariah Carey. Not that I can sing like her but that song is actually accessible to my range whereas her other songs I can't reach all the high notes. Anyway. So I'm belting it out, having a gay-old time, forgetting about my heinous kitchen remodel which took another unfortunate turn yesterday (having to do with possible code/permit enforcement), but I'll have to get to that in another post. Yeah. So I'm driving along, about 70 mph (I'm not a speedster) and this white SUV pulls along side of me and starts going the my exact pace. Ok. After a while this is no longer normal. I look over and I see a sign in his passenger window. It says "NOBAMA 08".

OK, whatever. I actually start chuckling to myself that this guy feels the need to show this to me because of my bumper sticker. My song is still on and I'd really like to keep singing without this nuisance, so I slow down a bit to let him go by. He slows down, too. Stays on me like white on rice. Now I'm getting a little freaked out. Still nervously laughing to myself, I try to shake him by speeding up. I get up to 75-80 and he is still on me. Right next to me. And when I look over at him, he is looking straight ahead, like it's a damn walk in the park.

At this point, I take my foot totally off the gas so that my speed changes quicker than he has the chance to react (which is not a totally safe thing to do, but neither was having another vehicle attached to the driver side of my car). He finally leaves me alone and doesn't fall back to me again.

Thankfully, I managed to get out of this situation without an accident, but I am lucky and I am not a nervous driver. A different person may have reacted poorly to this situation and gotten themselves and other drivers around them severely hurt. This type of behavior is fear-mongering. It's dangerous. It's unacceptable and I am shocked that the anger surrounding the fact that McCain is very far behind in the polls is causing people to behave in reckless, despicable ways.

I'm taking this as a sign. We are in the middle of this kitchen remodel and back in August I had signed up to volunteer in our neighboring battleground state of Nevada to help out with the campaign. I have been wondering if I should bother going because it's a hassle for me at the moment. My kitchen is gutted and Obama is kicking McCain's butt in the polls. Do they really need me?

Well, now, I don't give a rat's ass if he was so far ahead he was winning Alabama at this point, I am going. I am going to do what I can to get Obama elected because this fear-mongering, hateful stuff has to stop. I am tired of hearing about people yelling "kill him" and "Terrorist" about Obama at McCain/Palin rallies, and this man's actions last night that directly affected me proves that I cannot get complacent. This hatred is not acceptable; it is wrong. Under no circumstances would Jesus, God, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, whoever you worship, condone this behavior. And It should not be rewarded by allowing McCain to win this election.

Comments

  1. Being from Texas, I always thought everyone in California was a democrat. Then Schwarzneggar gets elected.

    Was this guy driving a pickup truck? Did he have a wad of dip in his mouth? Because that would make more sense...he is a Texas transplant.

    You go girl! Nevada ain't seen nothin' yet!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts