You Asked, I'm Answering

     So I'm sitting at a light this morning, waiting for the green.  I'm lost in thought, enjoying the cool breeze coming through the open window.  I see the left turn arrow turn green, and the line of cars next to me start to move.
     All of a sudden, I hear, "Hey!"  Thinking it must be someone I know, I turn, smiling a little.  This man is leaning over his front seat so he can yell out the passenger-side window.  He looks a LOT like the photo to the left.  
     I squint, and he continues shouting at me:  "How's that 'hope and change' working out for you?"  Before I can really register anything, he's gunned his truck, turned left, and is gone.
      The first thought in my head is, "I don't know him."  My second conscious thought is to get a good look at his truck.  It's fairly new, shiny, and black.  My next reaction is a verbal one:  "Jerk."
     Then I went back to my original reaction:  "I don't know him".  He didn't know me.  He was a complete stranger, compelled to yell something angry at someone he didn't even know.  I didn't feel threatened, just chagrined, silly--I thought it was going to be someone I knew; I looked up, made momentary eye contact. 
     I have written before about incivility in this country; as I thought about this incident today, I was most disturbed at what would motivate someone to yell something like this at a complete stranger?  How angry do you have to be to do that?  Makes me sad, yet again, for our country.
     YOU are probably wondering what set him off, what made him yell THAT question at me?
     I have a bumper sticker.  It says, "The Bush Legacy:  Leave No Child A Dime".  It's been on my car since mid-2008.  I could have taken it off at any time, but I leave it on as a reminder to people that George W. Bush was the one that took this country to the brink (reckless tax cuts for the wealthy, 2 unfunded wars, etc.) and then left.  NOT Barack Obama.  George W. Bush.
     Until today, I haven't heard a negative comment.
     As I thought throughout the day about the nameless, angry white man, I just got more and more annoyed.  Annoyed that I didn't get to answer his question, "How's that hope and change working out for you?"
     So, here's my answer:
     Dear Mr. White Middle-Aged Man in the Shiny Black Truck,
     I still have a lot of hope for true change in this country.  I feel President Obama could have accomplished so much more for our country if the Republicans had not decided their number one goal, according to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was not jobs or improving the economy, but "Making sure Obama is a 0ne-term president".
     I don't know how long you were sitting behind me, but in the less-than-one-minute you took to read my bumper sticker, you did a lot of judging and reacting without even knowing me.  So will I.  And my guess is I'll be a lot more closer to the truth than you thought you were.   
     I know you're a Republican.  That was apparent by the question you asked.  My guess is, based on the illogical and unprovoked anger my bumper sticker caused, you are a Tea Party supporter.  Tea Party people like to completely forget all the things George W. Bush did that they rail against now.  Where were you 8 years ago?  Did I hit a nerve with my bumper sticker?
     Furthermore, Mr. Middle-Aged White Man, I think the whole "Hope and Change" thing has worked out pretty well for YOU.  You are driving a large, new truck--that tells me you can afford to pay for gas, no problem.  You had....ahem...a protruding belly, so that tells me you are not going hungry.  Ever.  You also must have a job--you were wake before noon, and clearly had somewhere to go.  AND, you're a man.  The past year in particular has been very good to you, since you don't have a vagina, and other white men are not interested in your reproductive health.
     Finally, Mr. Middle-Aged White Man, you are privileged, and you have a huge sense of entitlement.  You don't know it, and yet you know it.  You had no problem stopping a line of cars waiting to turn, just so you could yell down into my little 13-year-old car.  You were thoughtless, inconsiderate, and that's to the people waiting behind you.  You also felt entitled to share your anger-laced opinion with a complete stranger.  Oh yes, I could clearly see the white privilege coursing through your veins.  I can therefore deduce you are not a minority....in any way, shape, or form.  Pity.  You could use a little humility.
     And anger management classes.  I mean really, who gets that angry at 8:30 in the morning?  
     
   

                 The bumper sticker that started it all.