I don't like government, but I don't think I have any delusions about it.
A few weeks ago on my walk, I ran into a woman I've seen walking to the post office and the store on multiple occasions, and who I frequently see out in her yard raking the dirt around. She's positively ancient and walks extremely slowly-- with a walker-- but at least she's out there.
She is always cheerful when I say "hi", and on that day as I was passing her going into the post office, she started a conversation with me.
It turns out she has interesting ideas. Such as... she thinks young people are getting all the "government money" that should be going to old people.
Another of those ideas was something she quickly got into discussing with me. She is convinced the town government is run by Satanic individuals (I can't argue against that), and that they are causing clay and sand to "come up" in her yard. From beneath the surface. Raising her ground level several inches over the years. She said the Bible predicts it.
I asked if she was sure this extra dirt wasn't just blown there by the wind (we have a lot of blowing dirt and sand here, especially during the spring). Most older yards in town now have a ground level 4 to 6 inches higher than the curb-- some yards on the southwest corner of town have gained about a foot of elevation since they were built due to blowing dirt getting trapped in their grass, When I moved into my house 14 years ago, the front sidewalk and much of my curb were completely buried and it took months to dig everything out. My "yard" even extended a few feet out into the street due to blown-in dirt that had grown grass and weeds. I expressed my opinion that this might be what has happened to her.
Nope. She said she has seen it coming into her yard, hovering just a foot or two off the ground as it "moved" from the alley (which is coincidentally upwind of her house) into her yard. This sounds suspiciously like what I see on windy days when the dirt and sand are on the move, but no, she says the government officials are doing it to her on purpose. They have targeted her and this is how they intend to steal her house. "It isn't magic, it's just evil people", she told me.
I listened to her tell me all about this evil plot for 20 minutes or so. After my initial suggestion that it might just be the wind, I didn't give any more opinions; I only listened to her concerns. I've learned my lesson about saying too much in the wrong situation.
I consider government-- ALL government-- to be evil. I don't think any government has the power to do things like she believes this one is doing. Even if I could have figured out how all the dots were supposed to connect. I think dislike and distrust are the most rational, consistent ways to view political government.
No magic-looking, non-magical, evil individuals necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment