Big Tree (bigotry)

Her certitude made it funny. The Electric Vehicle was the goverment's way of controlling people by limiting their range of travel. When I told of the charging stations in little towns in Utah & Nevada she said she preferred a gas-powered car. 

"We should reindustrialize America," she asserted. I wondered from whence she'd gleaned this polysyllabic term. As erudite as she was, it seemed a stretch. I asked if she read. In the pause that followed I added, in a tone suggestive of the backs of cereal boxes and McDonald's billboards, "maybe?....once in a while?"

I suggested she read Stegner. I'm reading Fradkin's bio and he, Stegner, had trouble adapting to the changes in the sixties (nineteen- sixties, that is). I conflated Stegner with Jim Rogers of Curry County, where we were standing, and told how Stegner had started out as a logger but became a conservationist. 

She allowed as how she'd been raised in a timber family, a sustainable resource. This year, due to an unknown (by her) disease, the deer population was down and they'd decided not to "fill their tag." Though she attributed their restraint to common-sense, the pronouncement of the act of denied violence seemed to suggest she be recognized for her, like Stegner's, conservationist view. Recognizing the compromising slippery slope toward Socialism (sustainable is a Socialist word!) she was espousing, she went on to cite her christian doctrine as having set humans at the top of the food chain and thus, all animals were for our use.

It was then I offered, "Thanks, it's been nice" and made to leave. But she was having fun and said she's 65. Despite rumor to the contrary, I am discriminating and was thus able to keep from mentioning my services as a "Tantric novitiate for women of a certain age." After enduring another 10 minutes of right-wing, sound-bite propaganda I managed to manuever her into bidding me an  enthusiastic "farewell."

For the next several hours I got alot of mileage out of formulating rejoinders to her sweeping generalities. Eventually though, I gave it up, telling myself I'll do better next time; I'll just smile and compliment her looks. Somehow though, they sneak up on me. 

I'm beginning to see it's harder for old people to accept change; and probably more so for *conservative* old people. I went back to CC Diner's menu and saw (with horror!) a single scoop of ice cream is $3.75!