Smart Creatures

As the political season enters its frenzied final days, I am again amazed at the success of certain candidates with whom I disagree.  I watch their ads and I wonder how these people ever got to be the standard bearers for their parties.  I mean, they are so obviously misguided or outright wrong.  Surely, everybody can see that, right?  I tend to forget that the electorate is not a monolith of folks who think like I do.  I forget that things that seem obvious or reasonable to me might be ridiculous or offensive to someone else.  We are a diverse bunch, and sometimes I need to be reminded of that.

I received one such reminder this past Saturday.  We were away from home for the weekend, enjoying Minnesota's lake country.  I made a morning trek into town to look for a rake handle to replace the one I'd broken the day before (this incident resulted in a bloody head injury deserving of a post of its own).  Anyway, I headed to a nearby town and ventured into the local hardware store.  I usually love going into small town hardware stores.  They are often like little museums full of useful items from the past.  So much of what is made today is made with a disposable mentality.  Use it until it breaks, then throw it away and buy a new one.  The small town hardware store is founded on exactly the opposite ideology: take care of it, if it breaks, fix it and keep fixing it until all hope is lost. 

When I entered the store, I was greeted by the strong odor of cigarette smoke.  Other than a brief glance from the old man smoking at the cash register, this would be the only greeting I would receive.  The old man was busy talking to another old man who was leaning against the counter.  I made my way past them and began to poke around.

The store was fairly small, and I realized a few things fairly quickly: they carried no suitable replacement rake handles; I no longer had any tolerance for smoky places; the store's inventory was surprisingly disappointing.  I browsed the aisles, hoping to come across something interesting.  All the while I was gradually making my way toward the front door and the promise of fresh, breathable air.  The shelves were packed with an odd assortment of items, more in line with what you might find at a typical gas station.

As I meandered, I couldn't help but hear the conversation happening at the counter.  So often, when one overhears a conversation, it's ordinary, mundane.  The two guys having this conversation spoke as if they were having one of these types of conversations and perhaps, to them, they were.  To me, however, it was rich and different.  I've paraphrased a portion of what I recall here:

Man 1: "So, when were you last around here?  Seems like it's been awhile."
Man 2: "Oh, it's probably been at least ten years, I guess."
Man 1: "Ten years?  Well, then you probably haven't heard about Mike.  Did you hear about Mike?"
Man 2: "No.  What about Mike?"
Man 1: "He got burned up real bad.  He was working at an oil field and got burned up."
Man 2: "He did?"
Man 1: "Yup, he was crispy...most of his body.  Retired after that."
Man 2: "So he survived?"
Man 1: "Oh yeah...he's a tough one." (chuckle) "Tough and crispy."
Man 2: (chuckle) "That's too bad."
Man 1: "Now I remember the last time you stopped by!  You brought me some muskrats and a beaver."
Man 2: "Oh, that's right!  I did do that, didn't I?"
Man 1: "Yeah, I fed them to the wolf.  He loved 'em."
Man 2: "I'm glad he liked them."
Man 1: "Yeah, I knew he would.  I know wolves and what they like.  Y'know, you can put a dead cow and a dead horse in front of a wolf and he'll eat the whole horse before he touches the cow."
Man 2: "Really?  Why's that?"
Man 1: "The horse's got better protein and the wolf knows that."
Man 2: "That's something."
Man 1: "Smart creatures."

At this point, I slipped out the door, once again reminded that not everyone is just like me.  In fact, there are some people who are very much not like me.  I did not ask these fellows who they planned on voting for and, to be honest, I have no idea how they would have answered.