My wife and I spent a bright, chilly Sunday afternoon at a Health Care booth at a local fall festival. We had information on the health care plans that are running through Congress, bumper stickers, and petitions to sign for passers-by. Soon after the parade passed by, a smooth-looking gentleman and his wife and well-scrubbed children approached our booth. My intuition lit a bulb in my brain which proved to be accurate.
He approached us and asked, "What faith are you?" Unfortunately, before I could give him my 2¢ worth of opinion, another at the booth said, "Methodist." Then came the lecture. He was fully prepared from the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. It was all about 'taking money out of his wallet,' which he demonstrated as if we were dolts. Why the 'faith' question was asked beats me.
During the endless rant, in which I did not engage, I told my wife, 'See, I should have brought that tea bag to wave for people like that.' I wonder if he would have understood the symbolism; probably not. His wife and two children were obviously irritated with the righteous arrogance and smooth, well-prepared speech.
At the end, no minds were changed, but he was surely content that he got 'the message' to us socialists. Actually we all had a good laugh as he dragged wife and children down the street. I wonder what his boy, about 10, thought of the encounter? And his wife? I have a suspicion that they probably wouldn't open their mouths all too often during and after one of his dissertations. He didn't appear to enjoy confrontation and surely his family learned that long ago.
