This....is Reagan Country!
At least it was "Reagan Country" this morning, in the Bob's Market parking lot, in Santa Monica.
After teaching a couple of clients this morning, I stopped by Bob's Market to pick up a roast beef sandwich for lunch- sour dough with a super-dollop of mayo slapped on both sides of the bread, lettuce and swiss.
Being slow in the mornings, there was one cashier on duty, and I got in line behind an elderly lady. She was just setting her goods on the counter, stopped, and asked if I wanted to go in front of her and if I was on a lunch break and whether I was in a hurry. That really caught me off guard, and I shook my head and said "No, I wasn't in a hurry at all". I laughed and smiled and said "thank you, though". She only had a few more grocery items than I had, thanks to several cans of cat food. Another cash register opened up, and I ended up getting out before she did.
As I was walking back to the wordsmithmobile, a car's bumperstickers caught my attention and brought an immediate smile to my face:
I have never seen such bumperstickers! Classic! And in blue-state California, to boot. I went to my car and thought to myself, "I bet you this vehicle belongs to that nice old lady." I could easily have been wrong, as there were quite a number of cars parked in the lot.
Sure enough, that lady who was so courteous to me and to the checkout clerk (I overheard her conversing in a friendly manner) went to the car with the "Reagan Country" and "Reagan '84" bumperstickers.
I grabbed a half-finished piece of origami out of a flyer, and began "cramming" in the finishing touches on it, as I got back out of my car and approached her.
I asked her if I could give her a gift for her courtesy inside, and for the bumperstickers on her car.
She and I spent the next 15 minutes, bonding. We laughed and agreed, talking about politics, Obama and Hillary, the primaries, being conservatives living in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, and on it went. Norma (her name) said I made her day and I pitched back that she made my week.
Norma's originally from Texas, by the way. God bless her!
After teaching a couple of clients this morning, I stopped by Bob's Market to pick up a roast beef sandwich for lunch- sour dough with a super-dollop of mayo slapped on both sides of the bread, lettuce and swiss.
Being slow in the mornings, there was one cashier on duty, and I got in line behind an elderly lady. She was just setting her goods on the counter, stopped, and asked if I wanted to go in front of her and if I was on a lunch break and whether I was in a hurry. That really caught me off guard, and I shook my head and said "No, I wasn't in a hurry at all". I laughed and smiled and said "thank you, though". She only had a few more grocery items than I had, thanks to several cans of cat food. Another cash register opened up, and I ended up getting out before she did.
As I was walking back to the wordsmithmobile, a car's bumperstickers caught my attention and brought an immediate smile to my face:
I have never seen such bumperstickers! Classic! And in blue-state California, to boot. I went to my car and thought to myself, "I bet you this vehicle belongs to that nice old lady." I could easily have been wrong, as there were quite a number of cars parked in the lot.
Sure enough, that lady who was so courteous to me and to the checkout clerk (I overheard her conversing in a friendly manner) went to the car with the "Reagan Country" and "Reagan '84" bumperstickers.
I grabbed a half-finished piece of origami out of a flyer, and began "cramming" in the finishing touches on it, as I got back out of my car and approached her.
I asked her if I could give her a gift for her courtesy inside, and for the bumperstickers on her car.
She and I spent the next 15 minutes, bonding. We laughed and agreed, talking about politics, Obama and Hillary, the primaries, being conservatives living in Los Angeles/Santa Monica, and on it went. Norma (her name) said I made her day and I pitched back that she made my week.
Norma's originally from Texas, by the way. God bless her!
Click the photos for a larger version (see what Norma is holding up in her hand)
Labels: bumperstickers, California, Personal, Ronald Reagan, Santa Monica
posted by The WordSmith from Nantucket at 3/04/2008 10:29:00 AM
12 Comments:
Yay! I get to be the first one to comment on this most wonderful post! :)
You are so sweet! I know you made that nice lady's day. I'll bet she took the little horse home and told someone all about you. It's something I know she's going to cherish. :)
Wow! Did YOU do that origami piece?? What talent, sir!
Gayle's right; she's going to remember you for the rest of her life, and you her.
BZ
Word,
You would never get home in Oklahoma lol
These people would never let you go and you would be handing out Oragami's all day. Good job BTW :-)
Now I have to go vote to see if we can get a proffesional basketball team in Oklahoma Yeee Hawww!
he laughs,,see i told ya you were in orange county and not in fantacyland.
Norma rocks. I'm not surprised she's a Texan. She knew a good guy - you and Reagan, too - when she saw one.
Maybe there is hope for southern California after all. Eventually.
Terrific story.
Oh Yea, they're out there, but they are hard to find...stay well...
gayle,
I do believe she said she was going to keep it in her car ashtray.
She was very excited about it, and was familiar with origami but had never seen anything like that one.
bz, yes origami is something I do on the side.
marie,
Hopefully one day I will visit Oklahoma.
griper and tapline,
I know there are closet conservatives in pockets of Southern California.
karen,
Norma is kind to everyone, from what I could tell. She talked about one of the workers in the supermarket who is a Hillary supporter, and talked of how they treat each other nicely.
Every now and then, as we talked conservative poltics and "Democrat-bashing", she'd lean in conspiratorially making sure no Democrat was in earshot to hear what she was about to tell me.
It will always be Reagan Country. Gosh I sure miss him!
Very nice Word. You are a sweetheart. That lady will rember that meeting for the rest of her life.
What were her words about the republican party's current dilema?
When I used to commute up to Orange County from SD County, I would see an old car (a Dodge Valiant?) with a Nixon/Agnew bumper sticker on it. He seemed like a courteous enough driver.
WorldNetDaily has been pushing a book lately by a psychiatrist that says liberals have worse mental health than conservatives. I tend to believe he may be right. And Norma's one of the healthy ones. God bless her!
What an awesome story!! It shows your class and hers. Very cool!!
Sorry, that above comment was from me. I didn't realize my daughter had logged in on google.
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