Bumped into a guy on the MBTA commuter rail
Coming home tonight, I sat in one of the double decker cars, in the middle section where there is a small table so you can lay your laptop or work on a crossword puzzle. A guy sat across from me reading the news paper. A few minutes later, a nice looking lady, well dressed, late fifties sat next to me. The guy across from me, obviously an acquaintance of her's recognized her and immediately ripped into her before she even had a chance to properly sit down:
"Did you see what those God damned teabaggers of yours did to me? This was my chance, probably my only chance in a lifetime to ride on the USS Constitution into Boston Harbor but the park is closed and the trip is canceled for the season. I am so pissed I can't even begin to tell you. I'm going to write an editorial and submit it to the Boston Globe."
He went on for a minute or so venting about his missed opportunity. Mind you, I know what he's talking about. That ship only goes into the harbor twice a year to flip it around and that's it. A scant few ever have the privilege of riding on old Ironsides when it makes its semiannual turnabout in the harbor.
"Why don't you write to your congressmen and tell him all about it" she asked.
"Waste of time; he probably can't read" He said.
The lady said nothing to this. She just smiled at him and glanced down shaking her head. It was clear that she was taking the ribbing in stride.
After a short silence, the guy asked the lady if she has some extra crossword puzzles which she produced from her purse and handed to him.
Several things were clear to me from this exchange.
1.- These people are on opposite sides of a political divide.
2.- They know each other and continue to be friends despite their political differences.
3.- There are intelligent people on the other side of the political divide who can separate their political views from their other social interactions.
I don't know what to make of this exchange beyond these observations. I'll keep an eye on the Boston Globe to see if anything comes out about missing a ride on the USS Constitution. Other than that, I'm still trying to digest this brief exchange to try to find some meaning in it.
= new reply since forum marked as read
