SCARY ICE CREAM
Dateline Pittsburgh:
So we stopped into an ice cream parlor in Newport, Kentucky, yesterday - Sean and I were the only ones in the shop - and struck up a conversation with the only employee in the place (Richard, according to his name tag). Or, rather, he struck up conversation with us. As has been happening frequently over the past few days, the "Hillary" buttons that we've been wearing have drawn a lot of comment, engagement, and discussion. Mostly, it's been middle-aged women, but we've had quite a few men (especially men of color) and, at Cincinnati University, we were getting high fives and "that's what I'm talking abouts" from a lot of female students - of all races. That's all been encouraging.
Then there was Richard the Ice Cream Guy.
The first thing he says (after determining that we were, indeed, canvassing for Clinton) is "Yeah, how could anyone support a Muslim candidate? They're the guys we're fighting." We've been getting a lot of that - and I mean a lot - so that wasn't so unusual. And, of course, we spent a few minutes explaining that Barack Obama is not a Muslim and that, even if he were, that wouldn't be a good reason for not supporting him. Then we had to go through the flag in nonsense - and the national anthem nonsense. Honest to God, it sometimes feels like we've spent as much time correcting misinformation about and spurious criticisms of Obama than we have discussing Clinton on the issues - and, frankly, after half a dozen such conversations, I've been seriously tempted to just say, "Yeah, how could anyone vote for a Muslim?" and move on. Conscience forbids.
Anyway, after we've dismissed the idiocy (one never knows how successfully), Richard the Ice Cream Guy moves on. "Don't worry," he tells us. "Obama will never make it to the White House." He then goes on - at length - about "one of the guys that lives in his house" who works for Army Intelligence and the background checks that he and his partner had to go through when this guy moved in and how all the neighbors had to be interviewed and how this housemate or whatever has the highest possible security clearance in INSCOM. Okay, a bit dubious, perhaps, but still within the realm of possibility, maybe.
Then the confidential tone sets in. Apparently, this guy-that-lives-in-his-house informed Ice Cream Guy that "if Obama even gets close to winning, they'll take him out". Huh? Who? "The government. They already have it all planned out. If Obama wins the primaries and it looks like he's gonna win the election, they're gonna kill him. The Army's gonna kill him."
This, remember, was all prefaced by "Don't worry." We grabbed our bowls of coconut chocolate almond and headed for the exit. "Are we going to sit out here," I asked Sean, referring to their outdoor seating area, "or are we getting as far away from Scary Ice Cream Guy as possible?"
"We're getting far away."
So we stopped into an ice cream parlor in Newport, Kentucky, yesterday - Sean and I were the only ones in the shop - and struck up a conversation with the only employee in the place (Richard, according to his name tag). Or, rather, he struck up conversation with us. As has been happening frequently over the past few days, the "Hillary" buttons that we've been wearing have drawn a lot of comment, engagement, and discussion. Mostly, it's been middle-aged women, but we've had quite a few men (especially men of color) and, at Cincinnati University, we were getting high fives and "that's what I'm talking abouts" from a lot of female students - of all races. That's all been encouraging.
Then there was Richard the Ice Cream Guy.
The first thing he says (after determining that we were, indeed, canvassing for Clinton) is "Yeah, how could anyone support a Muslim candidate? They're the guys we're fighting." We've been getting a lot of that - and I mean a lot - so that wasn't so unusual. And, of course, we spent a few minutes explaining that Barack Obama is not a Muslim and that, even if he were, that wouldn't be a good reason for not supporting him. Then we had to go through the flag in nonsense - and the national anthem nonsense. Honest to God, it sometimes feels like we've spent as much time correcting misinformation about and spurious criticisms of Obama than we have discussing Clinton on the issues - and, frankly, after half a dozen such conversations, I've been seriously tempted to just say, "Yeah, how could anyone vote for a Muslim?" and move on. Conscience forbids.
Anyway, after we've dismissed the idiocy (one never knows how successfully), Richard the Ice Cream Guy moves on. "Don't worry," he tells us. "Obama will never make it to the White House." He then goes on - at length - about "one of the guys that lives in his house" who works for Army Intelligence and the background checks that he and his partner had to go through when this guy moved in and how all the neighbors had to be interviewed and how this housemate or whatever has the highest possible security clearance in INSCOM. Okay, a bit dubious, perhaps, but still within the realm of possibility, maybe.
Then the confidential tone sets in. Apparently, this guy-that-lives-in-his-house informed Ice Cream Guy that "if Obama even gets close to winning, they'll take him out". Huh? Who? "The government. They already have it all planned out. If Obama wins the primaries and it looks like he's gonna win the election, they're gonna kill him. The Army's gonna kill him."
This, remember, was all prefaced by "Don't worry." We grabbed our bowls of coconut chocolate almond and headed for the exit. "Are we going to sit out here," I asked Sean, referring to their outdoor seating area, "or are we getting as far away from Scary Ice Cream Guy as possible?"
"We're getting far away."