A Socialist in The Produce Aisle

588 A Socialist In The Produce Aisle

Call him Tom, which isn't his name. He works the produce aisle. We're talking in a parking lot far from either of our work places. He asks "So what do you think about all these people bringing guns to the town hall meetings?"

"Oh, I'm one of those socialists they're all worried about," is the reply.

"Me, too," he says. "I'm a socialist." He glances up at the rooftop of a building and adds "any cameras around? I sure hope not, though they're everywhere."

"Long as there aren't snipers on the roof."

Tom's a greyhead, going to be 70 soon, he says. Had republican parents. Changed horses awhile back. He says "The Republicans fought Medicare, now all those Republicans are on Medicare and glad to have it. Our soldiers, God bless 'em, got VA care. Now these guys are working for the insurance companies and in January, their rates are going to go up -- again -- and they don't get that they're campaigning against their own interests."

Overhears a lot in the produce department. He says "I don't really listen to the conversations, but you hear things. The customers? They seem pretty equally divided between fronting for Blue Cross and making sense."

You have to wonder if the conversations are balanced differently in the "organic" and "regular" departments. The temptation is to ask whether the opposite of "organic" peaches shouldn't be "inorganic peaches," but Tom's on a roll here, getting a little worked up about the way people get worked up about all this.

"I hear someone had a gun at one of those town hall meetings." He heard right. An Obama town hall meeting in Arizona. Guy had an assault rifle over one shoulder and a handgun on his hip. Neither violated the law because they weren't concealed.

The Secret Service declined to answer a question, that being: why wasn't that guy sprawled on the sidewalk the moment you saw him? Guess the answer is, well, secret.

Tom says if that had been at a Bush event the guy would be in the slammer.

The Private Insurance Army, the PIA..

Tom looks at his watch and he's asked whether he's late for an appointment.

"Nope, I got six minutes. But I do need time to (go to the men's room) first."

If the parking lot was bugged, you'll never see this posting.

Shrapnel:

--There are some upsides to oral surgery for radio guys. For example, you can watch your boss gawk helplessly when you pretend not to be able to talk, then show them that you can. Kinda makes up for dental insurance not covering much of anything.

--One New York area Porsche dealer thinks cash for clunkers discriminates against his clientele, which wouldn't be seen dead in anything clunkeresque. So he's started a trade-in program of his own. It's called Cash for Cream Puffs.

--Changing fashions: The first uniforms for airline flight attendants made them look like nurses. Today, many nurses' uniforms make them look like flight attendants.

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009