An admission of shame and a moment of real surprise

Across the street and about four houses down from mine live a loosely-affiliated crew of rowdies. At all hours of the day they can be heard hashing out their differences on the lawn at full volume, until one of them stomps, screaming, to the car, revs the muffler-less engine for a few minutes while tuning the huge-ass stereo, then screeches off down the street. I don't know what kind of music they like, but it sounds like quarry blasting.

During summer nights, one of the men of the house likes to sit a-straddle of his motorcycle while working the throttle for a half an hour or more. Even at that distance the noise is sufficient to shake my windows, and it's a real joy at nine or ten pm when I have two young sons trying to sleep upstairs.

They also have a huge hellhound of a dog that lives outside and barks from 6:00am in mid-March until some time in late October (so far). A true son of a bitch.


I've called the police on them on three separate occasions becaused of midnight shouting matches that seemed certain to result in physical violence.


And, I must confess, I've decided not to put an Obama sign on my lawn specifically because I've been worried that these charming neighbors o' mine would steal it, or worse.



Well...


Yesterday I noticed to my utter amazement that they have an Obama sign on their lawn.


As much as I'm not proud of jumping to stereotyped conclusions, I will offer in my defense that I live in a rather Red neighborhood, so my inference wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. After all, I mentioned here the other day that a different neighbor proudly displays his "Another Democrat for McCain" yardsign in the same spot where he had his "Another Democrat for Bush" sign just four years ago...

Nice sound to it. Glad they live near you and not me, though. :rofl:

One other thing--from the general ambience of their shouted conversations, I've gathered that they're not the most racially harmonious group.

Therefore their choice to back Obama was an even bigger stunner for me.

It doesn't always reflect their actual attitudes.

Here in western PA there's a lot of baseline prejudice toward "the blacks" in general without applying it to any specific person. So maybe when the local rednecks actually get a look at the person, they're able to see past their own default preconceptions.

Some people categorize everything. Woman act like this, African Americans act like this, rednecks, yankees, Ivy Leaguers, etc. Doesn't mean these people necessarily judge others that way.

When I went to Mississippi State during the 80s, I had a black roommate--an old friend from high school. This was rare at Miss. State, as you might imagine. So one day on the way to class one of my suitemates caught up with me and introduced himself, and we started chatting. He said "Man, it sucks what they did to you." (He said it more rednecky, but you get the idea). "What?" "Making you room with a N...." (Only he didn't say ....). I told him my roommate was an old friend, and he just about tripped over himself apologizing and telling me it didn't matter to him. Seemed really upset with himself for saying it, even, like maybe he had just heard himself for the first time.

So a couple weeks later they were having a party in his room, and roomie and I had turned in early. One of the guys, drunk, started yelling "You know what I hate? I hate N....s!" loud enough that it was obvious we were supposed to hear it. Roomie and I just lay there, didn't even say a word to each other. What do you say? But another voice, from the guy who had talked to me that day, stepped in, and said "That's not right. Don't say that." We could hear him gaining control of the party, and soon the others were all telling the loud one to shut up.

You just never know.

Is the "mixing" of races. Marriage is the most obvious form, of course, but even "making you room with a N..." can get the racist's bowels quivering.


On a semi-related note... I was a reasonably fast sprinter in high school. Fastest on my small school's team and fast enough to place at just about every meet during the season. But this one guy blew past me as though I'd decided to give him a two or three-second head start.

I was, I admit, a bit demoralized to have been defeated so soundly. My coach sought to comfort me by saying "They have that extra bone in their foot that helps them run faster."

That kid went on to win at the state-level competition, by the way. Good thing he had that extra bone.

My coach really was a racist asshole.



With no understanding of anatomy.

And even back then I knew that the coach was full of shit.

:hi:

you knew he was full of shit! I'm sorry! My son had an issue with a kid who has been a really good friend of his telling him that the reason he is good in football is because he has some extra ligaments or something...big mess and he's the only black kid so he gets crap sometimes....I was probably just extra sensitive.

:hi: :hi:

Because that suggests to me that maybe others likewise wondered if I knew, but didn't ask!

Any idea where it was taken?

Put your Obama sign out, and the next time you see them wave cheerfully. Do that for a couple of days. Then, when you've established your solidarity, go chat about Obama a couple of times. Now that you're all simpatico, ask them nicely not to gun their motorcycle when your kids are trying to sleep.

Or you could keep calling the cops on them :). I hate neighbors like that.

When the guy comes to retrieve it, I'll say "wow--we're both Obama supporters!"


And then I'll lightly scrape a B on his right cheek.

In a way it makes sense, though. Why would rowdy, anti-establishment types want a crotchety old man for president? McCain & Palin want to get into people's business and tell them how to live, what books they shouldn't read, and dictate their sex lives. Screw that!

To be honest, I wouldn't have credited them with looking past the Rightwing anti-Obama spin, but they've clearly made their own decision. I don't know what they do for a living, but there's a lot of manufacturing in this very blue-collar area, so maybe they're union.

Regardless, theirs is a lovely counterpoint to the numerous McPalin signs elsewhere on the street.

I'd go ahead and put up an Obama sign. It probably won't get stolen. ;)

thinking good they have to change and you listen again and you realize that he is talking about us too. lol

Bravo! :applause:

I think...