I Responded In-Kind To Attack On Bumper Stickers

I have two bumper stickers on my car. One says “Texas Democrat” and the other says “Vote Democratic.” (One need not believe fully in the cause to show the colors. I imagine I believe enough….Sometimes at least.)

Not long ago, while putting my groceries in the car in the supermarket parking lot, a man came up to me and said “Thanks for surrendering our country to the Muslims.”

(If Muslims can deliver universal health care they can have the country. Maybe Muslims would do a better job running the country.)

I reacted to this gentleman without thinking and replied by suggesting that he “Get the f*** away from me.”

While this was a sincere statement on my part and consistent enough with my vocabulary in the private company of friends, family and wife, I was sorry to have responded in this manner in a public place. The commons are polluted enough without me adding to the mess.

As an aging ex straight-edge punk rocker and a native New Englander with some blue blood on my non-Italian side, I’m a Puritan at heart.

However, while I may have opinions on what others do, I would not stop them if I could. People have minds of their own and they must proceed as they see fit. Only my actions are under my control.

So the next time a grumpy person disrupts my thoughts about Babe Ruth or Plymouth Rock or whatever I was thinking about when that guy spoke to me , I shall endeavor to react in a more reasoned fashion.